Utopia
by AmphibianQueen
Summary: The struggle for a mortal soul: join Jasper on his Pokémon journey through Hoenn, as he comes to realise the existence of the beast within his soul. Along with his friend he will attempt the impossible - to destroy an immortal, legendary Pokémon. Rated M for later chapters. Sequel to We Can Make It If We Try.
1. Prologue: The Cosmos

**AN: Hello, dear readers! This here is** _ **Utopia**_ **, sequel to** _ **We Can Make It If We Try**_ **. I am posting a note here for two reasons:**

 **This story is currently being remodelled slightly – hence why I have taken the original down, but I hope to be posting again soon!**

 **This chapter is deliberately woolly, and all will become clear as you read further on – just to let you know that subsequent chapters will not be quite as confusing, and will not be set in the Cosmos!**

 **It's good to be back! (: A x**

Within the bowels of the Cosmos, the beast was trapped, unable to spread his wings or even open his colossal jaws to roar in frustration, in _fury_.

It was over.

He had won the battle, but lost the war. Yes, he had succeeded in planting his seeds of deceit, spite, jealously, and mistrust into the race of men. Of course he had. He was all-powerful - an unstoppable force of pure malice. The mortals only knew him as 'Chaos'.

No. He _had_ been all powerful. Now he was nothing… _nothing_. He had never before considered defeat, how could he? Being made of dark shadows and brute Dragon strength, how was it _possible_ that his power had been overcome? But he knew the answer. It was soaring above him freely in the Cosmos they were still damned to share. _Ho-Oh_. The _Firelight_ Pokémon.

Although never truly having considered defeat, Zyrir found himself explosively furious at his fate. If the prospect of defeat ever _did_ cross his mind, it was always with a naively mortal attitude; but he, Zyrir, was _im_ mortal. His defeat did not bring the relief of no longer knowing, feeling, or desiring: instead it brought only a form of frustrating, physical paralysis.

The Cosmos remained as it always had been, and always would be. An inky black abyss, with no clear beginning and no fathomable end - just like him, just like Ho-Oh, and Lugia and many others who dwelt in different factions of the same place. It was their domain - those who could not die. The 'Legendary Pokémon' they had been named.

The mortals were not aware of the Cosmos; they could feel the forces that dwelt within in, and they could be influenced by the powers the immortal beasts possessed – but they were wholly ignorant of this fantastical realm. They could never enter it, although the Legendaries could enter their world…the _human_ world. But not Zyrir.

Zyrir was trapped. As soon as his own petrified soul had been destroyed through the carelessness of that girl, he had been unable to move, unable to fly, unable to seep into the hearts and minds of men and corrupt them. Even if somehow, by some unexplainable phenomena, Zyrir managed to regain a particle of his strength, he knew he would never again seize control of the Earth. The _Draco Silicis_ was gone – and no mortal had truly known precisely why the crystal was so powerful, so infinitely precious. For Zyrir, like any creature, mortal or otherwise, possessed only one soul and, once destroyed, it could not be regained or regrown. Without his soul, the _Draco_ _Silicis_ , Zyrir was unable to ever again inhabit the body of another human being, and thus, even should his strength and abilities ever return, he would have no means of projecting them.

Soulless and incandescent with rage, the dread creature writhed silently in his personal hell.

Far, far above, seemingly mocking him, were the billions of gold-blue orbs that floated in the inky abyss; the representations of human souls. Zyrir could only watch as Ho-Oh flew blithely through the darkness, piping its intolerable song and blessing those human orbs of its choice, causing them to glow a brighter gold than those around them.

But human mortals, as Zyrir had learnt in the many millions of years that these beings had occupied the planet earth, were neither composed fully of darkness _or_ light. Some mortals, although very few, were easier to sway than others – some towards evil, some towards good.

He recalled again with wrath the Dragon girl - 'Pascalia' as other mortals had named her. Every particle of his energy and effort he had expended on her, only for her to be beaten – beaten easily – by that blasted 'child of Firelight', and the 'Firemoon child' who had aided him. Trembling with inexpressible ire, Zyrir found those two particular orbs above him in the Cosmos. They were the easiest to spot, for they glowed more brightly than the rest and, unlike the other orbs that more or less fluctuated constantly between the gold and blue hues of human souls, these were almost purely golden, marbled only with the faintest of blue lines. 'Blessed by Firelight', the other mortals called them.

Zyrir knew that if he could only move, his rage would cause those orbs to be snuffed out like candles in a sudden draught. But it was his inability to exert his power, his inability to rise up from the bowels of the Cosmos he once sought to rule, that had further blackened the essence of his being. In his most deplorable state, Zyrir was more dangerous than ever.

He was not able to drag his gaze from those two golden orbs, pulsing as they did with soft, golden light.

How he longed to destroy them.

Although human lifespans were nothing to an immortal, Zyrir felt that he lived a thousand eons for every damned minute those orbs exited in peaceful harmony.

All was lost.

In a more glorious past, a mere sigh of Zyrir's would rock the Cosmos, and cause the blue counterparts of human souls to shudder and pulse, encouraging evil thoughts, words, and deeds - but now a fully-fledged cry of helplessness and fury did nothing, except to infuriate the beast further, as once again his utter powerlessness was exemplified. The Firelight had won the war, and Zyrir was forced to endure this failure until the End Of Time – assuming such a thing ever came to be.

And then, out of nowhere so it seemed, everything changed.

Shielding his topaz-yellow eyes from the sudden, veritable firestorm above, Zyrir gaped. What was happening, so far above? What was causing that blinding, Cosmos-illuminating light? Ho-Oh was circulating the light-storm, singing joyously, its rainbow tipped wings shimmering through the new, dazzling light.

Still squinting due to the blinding brightness, Zyrir's eyes found that which had lit up the heavens. Another human orb had been brought into existence, and yet such an orb Zyrir had never seen. There was no vein of blue here at all – the orb was comprised purely of golden light, and even those orbs from which it had sprung, those which were normally the easiest to spot in the sea of others, were positively dimmed in comparison with the smaller, newer orb that they had created.

Never before had Zyrir had such an overwhelming desire to obliterate a light, and never before had he tried harder to awaken his power, to leave the bowels of the Cosmos and fly upwards just one more time. But he was spent; all of his power had diminished in that final struggle with Ho-Oh. He did not have the power to even unfold his wings – how could he hope to soar upwards towards that new, sparkling orb? And if he managed to get there, with what strength was he hoping to eradicate it?

But no strength was required.

Opposites will always attract, and without conscious thought, and without one particle of effort, Zyrir was flying once more. He was not controlling himself, although he had no desire to go anywhere but where he was being led. He allowed himself to be steered by this polar force, the force that was compelling pure evil to be inexplicably drawn to pure goodness. The immortal black Dragon collided with the tiny, golden orb with an ear-splitting commotion, causing the Cosmos to rumble and groan, and the Firelight to give an unearthly shriek as it realised what had just occurred.

Like with all cosmic, immortal struggles, the mortals on earth were wholly ignorant of the commotion. Two mortals were particularly ignorant of the movements of Chaos, whom they believed to have been defeated forever. They could think of nothing else but their new-born son; that tiny orb of purely golden light that so attracted that inextinguishable evil.


	2. Chapter 1 - Childhood Years: Awakening

The small stone cottage was filled with securely taped cardboard boxes. All of the windows and doors had been thrown open in an attempt to air the house, which hadn't been occupied for many months. Straightening up, and wiping a hand across her perspiring forehead, Rose heaved a sigh. She had just opened all of the boxes containing kitchen utensils, plates, bowls, cutlery, and pans, before realising that she then had to shift all these items from the living room into the kitchen itself. She moaned to herself in exasperation. She hated moving house.

"All right?" Morty panted from behind her.

He was carrying two cardboard boxes, one stacked on top of the other, and his face was pink from the exertion. Behind him came more boxes, carried by the Machoke they had hired to help them with the move.

"Since when do we own so much stuff?!"

Morty shrugged as he put the boxes down with a grunt.

"God knows – where's Jasper?"

Rose motioned towards the back door where their son was happily sat on the grass of their new garden with Raichu – his best friend.

"Cool," Morty nodded, "there're only a couple more boxes in the van – how about you start unpacking whilst I grab them?"

His violet eyes surveyed the mess and he frowned slightly.

"I guess we should start with the kitchen? We're going to need a good dinner after this…"

Rose closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, attempting to ready herself for the exhausting morning and afternoon ahead, before she began to shove the box full of plates and mugs into their new kitchen.

-o-

"No! _I_ want it!" the blond child laughed, as Raichu held the toy Pokéball out of reach above his head, balancing it expertly upon his lightning-bolt shaped tail.

Jasper jumped, but, as was customary, Raichu flicked his tail lightly, causing the toy ball to fly upwards, away from the child's grasping hands. Jasper laughed harder, desperately trying to snatch the toy which had landed once again on Raichu's tail. The game continued, the child chasing the electric Pokémon around their new garden, still unable to reach the toy.

"Stop it Raichu," Jasper said suddenly.

Raichu's ears cocked towards the child; Jasper's tone had changed somewhat, his voice suddenly very cold and void of emotion, despite the fact that he was clearly issuing a command. Raichu could not recall ever having heard anything like it from him: either in tone or nature.

The Pokémon turned towards the child, confusion in his eyes. Jasper stood quite still on the grass, his bright brown eyes narrowed as he surveyed his friend.

" _I_ want the toy, I said."

Still the voice was different…wrong somehow…but Raichu knew this game. They played it nearly every day. Waggling his tail playfully, Raichu bounced the Pokéball toy up and down, in an attempt to entice Jasper. But Jasper did not smile, and did not run towards Raichu. He held out a small hand, and Raichu merely stared at it. What was going on?

Before Raichu had time to consider the options, Jasper had lunged forward and grabbed the black portion of his tail in his small fist.

Raichu had fought in many battles alongside Rose, but never before had he experienced a pain such as this. It was a searing, burning shock, and it went right through the Pokémon to every extremity. Raichu yelped and jumped backwards in shock. The toy Pokéball rolled across the grass towards the child, who bent to pick it up.

Raichu's mouth fell open as he stared at the child once again. Gone was the coldness from his brown eyes, and once again an innocent, happy smile lit his face.

"Now it's your turn! Catch me if you can!"

-o-

It was an unusually hot July in Ecruteak City. Rose fanned herself fruitlessly with a sheet of paper, as she tried to make sense of the report on the makeshift desk in front of her. Although they had now been in Ecruteak for over a month, the new house was still in need of some organisation and decoration. Nevertheless, work had to begin. Overall, Rose had found her transference to Ecruteak's Pokémon Hospital very irritating indeed. The hospital was far smaller than the one in Tarragon City where she had trained, but Rose found that the smaller hospital was completely disorganised. For almost a week now, she had been looking through discharge reports dating from three months prior, because the junior doctors kept making mistakes when writing them. Now being qualified, it was Rose's responsibility to ensure that all of their paperwork was corrected…

She leant back in her chair, stretching her now stiff neck and back. Through the glass of the back door, she could see that Jasper was amusing himself by playing with the mud in the flowerbeds of the garden. Raichu, however, was nowhere to be seen. Rose got up from her desk, and wandered into the kitchen, better to see. It transpired that Raichu _was_ in the garden, but he didn't appear to be playing with her son. In fact, the electric Pokémon looked rather sullen, huddled by the wall in the shade, watching Jasper play with…wary eyes?

"Are you all right, Raichu?" Rose asked, poking her brown curly head around the kitchen doorframe. Her Pokémon jumped, his round black eyes widening in fear and alarm. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Raichu bounded through the garden into the sunlight, to sit with the golden haired child. Jasper shrieked in delight when he realised his friend had come to play again, and waved at Rose with small muddy hands, a wide grin on his little face.

Rose laughed to herself as she set the kettle to boil. She was pleased that Jasper was enjoying the new garden, for it was part of the reason she and Morty had decided to leave Sesame and their flat in Tarragon City. Moving to Ecruteak City in Johto allowed Jasper to have the sort of outdoor-focused upbringing that they had both enjoyed as children, and, of course, Morty had been keen to return to his hometown. Morty's cousin, Eusine, who had been the temporary Leader of the Ecruteak Gym, had decided that the time was ripe for another attempt at finding the legendary Suicune, leaving the Gym to Morty, its original Leader, once more. Ecruteak Gym wasn't as busy as the Gym that Morty had been running in Tarragon City, but he was looking forward to a less hectic timetable. Callisto, another of Morty's cousins and the Leader of Tarragon Gym, was returning from her travels, and so the whole operation transitioned smoothly; Callisto to return as Gym Leader in Tarragon, and Morty in Ecruteak. Only Rose was less than thrilled with her current position, however, she knew that once the paperwork was sorted she would begin to enjoy the job – both because she loved solving problems, and because once the paperwork was through, she could go back to practicing clinically…

Rose was jolted from her stream of thought by a commotion of sorts in the garden. Jasper screamed at the top of his voice and, instinct taking over, Rose raced to the back door. Jasper was crying in the flower bed, his shorts and hands covered in mud. There were tears pouring down his face, and, in the split second it had taken Rose to reach him, his crying had bordered on hysterical.

"What is it, Jasper?" Rose asked calmly, although she could feel her heart racing – Jasper never cried like this.

"H-h-he z-zapped me!" the child managed to gasp, pointing at Raichu with a grubby forefinger. The rest of the hand was closed over his wrist protectively.

Rose merely blinked, certain that she could not have heard him correctly. Raichu had never shocked a person, and he especially would not hurt a child. And Raichu loved Jasper, Rose knew he did.

She turned towards her Pokémon, and Raichu could see the conflict and disbelief in her eyes. It was obvious that she did not want to believe what the child was saying. Rose looked into Raichu's eyes, her mouth open as though to speak, but unable to do so. What she saw there did not make anything clearer, for there was definite guilt on the electric Pokémon's face - but there was a hint of defiance there, too.

Rose closed her mouth, and turned back towards her son, removing his hand from his wrist. There was a small, pink, blistered welt visible through the mud at the very base of Jasper's thumb, and he shrieked afresh as the cool breeze hit it, causing it to sting and smart horribly.

"Raichu, why did you shock him?" Rose asked quietly.

Raichu stared up into Rose's face, unsure how to answer. He loved Rose dearly; he had done for many years, ever since she had healed him as a Pichu. But the way she was looking at him now was making him feel very small and very sick in his stomach. She had never looked at him like that, with anger and disappointment in her brown eyes. But Raichu was not the only one at fault here. He had not _meant_ to shock the child, he loved Jasper, but when taken unawares, Raichu had acted on impulse…

But nor did Raichu wish to incriminate the child. Yes, the pain had been dreadful when Jasper had struck him – not the blow itself, but rather the searing, incomparable pain that Raichu felt when Jasper's hand made contact with his fur. Raichu could not help but think, in his very confused state, that it couldn't have been Jasper…Jasper would never hurt him in such a way…nor should he be capable of it for that matter…

Rose could see the battle raging in Raichu's eyes. She was sure Raichu was concealing something from her. He had never hurt Jasper, hurt _anyone_ before, nor had he shown a tendency of any kind to do so.

"Did you do anything to scare or hurt Raichu, Jasper?" Rose asked grimly, turning back to the boy.

Jasper shook his head as he continued to sob. Rose pursed her lips, at a complete loss as to how to deal with this situation.

"Right, well I think you've both had enough playtime for one day," she said with an air of forced calm, "Jasper, you come and sit with me and you can read your book for a little while, and Raichu…"

Raichu looked up at her once more, with mingled fear and resentment in his eyes. Rose did not look angry anymore, but there was an air of suspicion about her which saddened him deeply.

"Raichu, you can…can do whatever you like, okay?"

Raichu gave a curt nod and, turning away from Rose and Jasper, he bolted up the cherry tree in the garden, taking refuge in its heavily leaved branches.

-o-

"Raichu _shocked_ him?" Morty repeated in disbelief, after Rose informed him what had happened earlier that afternoon.

"Yes," she confirmed very quietly, although Jasper was in bed and Raichu, most unusually, had opted to go inside his Pokéball, so there was no chance of them being overheard.

"But Jasper _must_ have done something to him," Morty said logically. There could be no other explanation after all – Raichu was impeccably trained; he had never hurt a human, nor had he ever shown a desire to do so.

Both parents frowned. The troubling thing with the whole situation was that it was inconceivable that either Jasper _or_ Raichu were to blame. Yes, Jasper was occasionally difficult, as were all four year olds, but he was never deliberately naughty, and Rose and Morty were certain he would never hurt or scare a Pokémon deliberately. Growing up alongside them had instilled in Jasper an understanding and respect for the creatures. On the other hand, Raichu was, and always had been, a fiercely loyal Pokémon. Jasper had spent the majority of his childhood climbing upon Raichu, pulling at his ears and his tail, and Raichu had taken it all on board good-naturedly, never once having shown any aggression. He loved the child, and was always willing to play with him…

"Jasper claimed he did nothing," Rose sighed in answer. She wasn't sure what to believe. It made her uncomfortable, firstly to think that Jasper had done anything to Raichu to cause him to retaliate, and secondly that the child might lie about it afterwards. It just didn't fit in with his character. He had always been a good little boy.

"But Raichu's acting very strangely himself," Morty mused, "when have you ever known him to opt going into his Pokéball?!"

Rose rubbed at her forehead with both hands in frustration.

"I haven't got a clue what's going on," she finally said with a yawn, "shall we talk to them both separately tomorrow?"

Morty shook his head slowly as he considered the options.

"No…but I think we should keep an eye on them both. If they're just feeling unsettled by the move, I'm sure this will all blow over in time…"

-o-

Jasper lay awake that night in his dark bedroom, the covers pulled up to his chin. Deep down, he knew that his big new bedroom gave him a funny feeling in his tummy, but he was normally so tired out from all of his playing and discovering new things, that he didn't have much time to dwell on it before sleep overtook him. But that didn't seem to be happening tonight. His brown eyes, which would normally be prickling with tiredness by now, felt as wide and as open as ever. The small burn on his wrist was stinging and smarting too, even though his mummy had put some special cooling cream on it. He wanted a bandage, because it had hurt dreadfully when he had his bath, but his mummy had said it wasn't a bad burn, and that it would get better quicker if it wasn't covered up…

Jasper sighed, and rolled onto his back, wincing as the burn dragged against his bedcovers. As he lay there his brown eyes began to fill with tears, but he wasn't entirely sure why. Sniffling, he tried to wipe them away, but it all became too much for the four year old. His wrist hurt, and his tummy felt funny, and for some reason, he felt that here in the darkness, he was not alone. He couldn't explain what made him feel this way exactly, but he somehow knew that he wasn't the only thing in his bedroom. Whatever he could sense, he didn't like it. It intensified the creeping, crawling feeling that was already present in his stomach, and all he knew was that he wanted his mummy or his daddy.

Jasper's tears came harder and faster and, before he was aware of it, he was sobbing loudly. Stumbling from his bed, he desperately tried to reach for the light switch, but his little hand groped at a bare wall. He remembered; he was in his _new_ bedroom now, the light switch was in a different place, but he was too tired to remember where it was. The funny feeling in his tummy was getting worse. Sat on his cold, dark bedroom floor, Jasper somehow knew that whatever the thing was that he could sense, could now sense him too. Bawling now, his small hands pressed to his face lest he see something he didn't want to, Jasper curled up on the floor of his bedroom, his tears soaking the neck of his pyjama top.

Above his wretched crying, Jasper could not hear the footsteps on the stairs, and he hiccoughed in shock as his bedroom door opened, the room suddenly flooding with the warm, yellow light from the landing.

Morty gave a sympathetic smile as he saw his tiny son crying in the middle of his bedroom floor. He did not say a word, but moved through the room and lifted the child to his chest, using the cuff of his jumper to dry Jasper's eyes and nose. Morty sat back on the bed, still cradling the child to him, and pulled the covers over them both.

Jasper gave a small sniffle, and then sighed into the familiar smell and feel of his daddy's chest. His daddy was always so _warm_ , and he smelt like clean washing, and toast, and cinnamon. Morty could not see from his position, but Jasper gave a watery smile as he continued to snuggle into his father. He was too young to explain what his father's presence meant to him at that moment, and he could not yet put into words the complexity of what he felt; that the unyielding hand that had been clutching at his insides, the strange, lurking presence of that other thing, was instantly gone.


	3. Chapter 2 - Childhood Years: Isolation

Rose frowned at her son disbelievingly. The child tried to hold her gaze, but found that he could not.

"You want to go to Grandma's house _rather_ than Lucas's party?"

Jasper nodded vehemently, his eyes still fixed on the floor.

Morty and Rose glanced at one another.

"But why, Jas?" Morty asked, kneeling down to his son's height, "you'll have much more fun at the party," he said, injecting excitement into his voice, "They're going to the Ruins of Alph…you love the Ruins of Alph!"

It was true, Jasper _did_ love the Ruins of Alph: there were many fun games and Pokémon related activities that the curators put on, especially for birthday parties…

"I just don't want to go," Jasper mumbled. He didn't want to look at his parents, because he knew that if he did, he would find it much harder not to cry.

"Well…if that's really what you want," Rose said gently, "I'm sure Grandma would love to have you over."

Jasper nodded and tried to smile; he at least had to make it _look_ like he had gotten what he wanted.

In truth, Jasper would have loved to have gone to Lucas's birthday party. January was a very cold and boring month as far as he was concerned, not being allowed to play too long in the garden, and he wanted nothing more than to go outside and play with some children his own age. The problem was Jasper was certain the children didn't want to play with _him_.

At first he had enjoyed going to school in Violet City. His Grandpa Hector was a teacher there, and Jasper loved him very much. He had gotten on very well with the other children there, too. Every break time they would all play together, and Jasper enjoyed going around to his friends' houses for supper, and in turn inviting them around to his own home.

His little life had been very enjoyable when they first moved to Ecruteak City. Their garden was big and green, and there were lots of plants and bushes and trees to look at and play in. Wild Buterfree and Beautifly had sometimes settled on his shoulder if he had the patience to sit still for long enough, and once he had even caught sight of a Poliwag in the garden pond.

His mummy and daddy had seemed happier too; they were at home a lot more than they used to be in Tarragon City, and Jasper no longer had to go to a nursery. The times when both mummy _and_ daddy were at work Jasper now got to spend with his grandparents, Isadora and Hector, who lived in neighbouring Violet City and always let him play, and read him books, and gave him milk and warm biscuits.

But recently, things had changed. Young as he was, Jasper couldn't quite put a finger on what was different. He certainly didn't _feel_ any different, but he felt as though he was being treated as though he were by others. It had all started in the garden with Raichu. The Pokémon had electric shocked him, hard, and Jasper had had no idea why. Raichu was his best friend, they had _always_ played together, but now the Pokémon actively avoided him…he never wanted to play anymore and sometimes Jasper felt as though Raichu didn't even want to _look_ at him anymore. This made Jasper feel very confused, and lonely sometimes, but his mummy and daddy still acted the same towards him, and so did Grandma and Grandpa. Life had continued, and Jasper became accustomed to no longer having Raichu's companionship. However, the same thing had started to happen at school. It was very gradual at first, so much so that Jasper himself, and even the teachers, didn't notice, but somehow, one day, Jasper found himself alone at break time. None of the other children seemed to approach him, or even want to talk to him. Embarrassed, Jasper had not told anyone; not his mother, his father, nor his grandparents. His little self was unable to articulate exactly what he felt anyway: _isolated_. The children were not horrible to him necessarily; they just treated him as though he was not there. As there was no physical or verbal bullying involved, Jasper felt that he was acting like a baby, for every time he thought about it, his bright brown eyes filled with tears. And so he stopped thinking about it.

Rose was aware that Jasper was unusually quiet on the short walk to Violet City - and he was looking rather peaky now she thought about it... She found herself thinking that the child was probably coming down with a cold.

"Now be a good boy," Rose smiled as she bent down to Jasper's level, and kissed him on the forehead, "and make sure you bring daddy and I some cakes if Grandma makes them, okay?" she winked.

Jasper giggled. Grandma's cakes were very yummy, but his mummy's cakes were… _not_.

The front door of the cottage swung open and Isadora, still dark haired and very young for a grandmother, exclaimed in delight upon seeing her only grandson. She scooped him up and kissed him all over his small face, making him giggle and splutter.

"Sorry Isadora," Rose said apologetically as she handed over the child's rucksack, "obviously we wouldn't ask, but we're supposed to be decorating the living room this afternoon…and Jasper didn't want to go to the party."

Jasper bit his lip worriedly, hoping the grown-ups weren't going to start asking him why he didn't want to go…but to his relief they started talking about paint colours. Boring.

Jasper wriggled down from Isadora's arms and proceeded through the house, leaving the women chatting on the doorstep.

The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly for the golden-haired child. Isadora made ginger biscuits and hot chocolate, Hector read him stories about heroes fighting Dragon Pokémon in Medieval times, and he played with Vaporeon and Octillery on the rug in front of the fire. Before long, he had forgotten about the party and about Raichu, simply happy to be surrounded by those who loved him.

-o-

Raichu felt miserable. He curled up on the old sheet that was protecting the sofa, and watched lifelessly as Morty and Rose, dressed in tatty old clothes, painted the walls with rollers. The couple were talking about everyday things; work; what to have for dinner; whether they ought to buy another armchair…

The rollers made a satisfying, odd sort of rippling squelch as Morty and Rose moved them continually up and down the walls. Ordinarily, Raichu would have been interested and would have liked to help them, but recently he just didn't feel like doing anything at all. He knew that Rose watched him occasionally, thinking he didn't realise, and he had heard her voice her concern to Morty that something wasn't quite right with him…but Raichu was fine – physically at least. He so desperately wished he could communicate his concerns to the couple…but he couldn't, and it wasn't a simple matter of a language barrier. He knew that Rose, and even Morty by now, were easily able to understand him. It was instead a question of loyalties, and Raichu felt torn in many directions. But it all came down to Jasper. The child he had loved so dearly, that he had been so protective over, had come to frighten him. Raichu tried to avoid playing with him, for all too often Jasper's voice would change, and the game they happened to be playing at the time would become a game no longer, but a battle of wills. Raichu felt threatened at times, flinching now when the child approached him too quickly, or made any sudden movements. Occasionally now there was something different about him, something that had only started when they had all moved to Ecruteak City. Jasper was not always himself any longer, but only Raichu seemed to have noticed. Rose and Morty were aware that the child didn't sleep well, but they were still putting it down to being unsettled. The house and the city were all new to Jasper…they thought it was bound to take a few months for him to get used to the new routine.

But Raichu had realised that, although the child was different, he wasn't just a different version of his previous self. It was almost as though there were _two_ Jaspers, one Raichu knew well and loved, a sweet little boy who loved to laugh and play, and then the other Jasper that frightened him, whose eyes and voice were cold, and whose touch could bring severe pain. Raichu shuddered, and tucked his tail more firmly around himself.

-o-

Something was not quite right with Jasper, Isadora had decided. Normally he was so full of life that it exhausted her, but today he seemed…withdrawn somehow. He was nestled between herself and Hector on the sofa, but he made no move to chat, or wriggle, or plead to play with Hector's Pokémon or… _anything_. Nevertheless, he seemed fairly content in his silence. Perhaps he was just tired? Isadora surreptitiously peered into his little face and noticed that underneath his bright brown, cat-shaped eyes were dark smudges.

"Did you have a bad night's sleep, little one?" she asked, smiling as she stroked his golden blond hair from his face. But for his eyes, Jasper looked just like Morty. Isadora felt that she had a four year old Morty back again, and it warmed her heart that this little thing was _Morty's_ son…her little boy's little boy…she chuckled softly to herself.

Her reminiscing meant that she failed to notice the stiffening of Jasper's shoulders in response to her question. He didn't like thinking about bedtime. His bedroom still made him feel funny inside, like something was there with him in the dark. But he was a brave boy; he knew where the light switch was now, and every time he felt that way, he forced himself to get out of bed and turn on the light, proving to himself again and again that there was nothing in his room; nothing was watching him.

"No, I slept fine," he said.

-o-

That night, back in his own bedroom, Jasper thought that the thing might be present once again; the tingling feeling on the back of his neck and the slight clenching of his stomach made him think so. He tried to tell himself to stop being silly; he _knew_ there was nothing in his bedroom. But, nevertheless, he could feel the perspiration starting to bead his small back and the palms of his hands. His heart began to race, and his mouth became very dry. Hot tears prickled at the corners of his eyes.

 _Stop it Jasper_ , he chided himself, _there's nothing in your bedroom, nothing is looking at you!_

As he told himself this however, he had the creeping feeling that he was indeed being watched - not from somewhere in his bedroom - but from within his own head. A cold rushing realisation shuddered through him at this thought; his breath left his lungs in such a rapid _whoosh_ that he felt simultaneously light-headed and winded. He leapt from his bed in his terror, and sprinted across the landing to his parents' bedroom. The door was half open and Jasper slipped inside, his heart hammering in his throat. He moved silently through the darkness until he reached the edge of his parents' bed and climbed hastily inside, closing his eyes tightly to try desperately to avoid the sensation of being watched.

But the sensation disappeared as quickly as it had come. Jasper held himself very still, hardly daring to believe it, but he could feel his muscles relaxing, and his terror diminishing as warm feeling tingled its way through his little limbs. The sensation had gone; he was not being watched by anything anymore. A shaky sigh escaped his lips as he realised this, and he pushed his sweaty hair from his forehead with a small hand that still trembled slightly from his previous fright. Rose turned over in her sleep, and enveloped Jasper in her arms.

 _Nobody is watching me_ , Jasper smiled to himself, as his tired eyes closed heavily with sleep.

And indeed, nobody was. The coils that held the child's soul relinquished in the presence of his mother and father, and the Beast withdrew once again from Jasper's conscious.

 **AN: so this is the second of seven childhood chapters (I think!). Would love to know what you all think so far!**

 **A x**


	4. Chapter 3 - Childhood Years: Boundaries

A frosty February melted into a wet, mild March, and Jasper found himself staring out of the living room window at the grey sky shot through with patches of pearly blue. It had seemed like _forever_ since he had been able to play in the garden, and he suddenly found that the story book in his lap no longer held any excitement for him.

"Ma?" he asked.

"Mm?" Rose replied from next to him on the sofa. She was staring at the recipe for cottage pie, trying in vain to figure out exactly _how_ you were supposed to spread the mashed potato evenly over a whole dish of meat and vegetables.

"Can I go outside?" Jasper asked with a hopeful smile.

Rose glanced out of the window, where every now and again the odd rain drop struck the pane of glass.

"Course you can," she said, laughing at the way his little face lit up, "just make sure you pop your wellies on!"

But Jasper was already out of earshot. Rose smiled to herself over Jasper's childish eagerness. Recently, she found herself reluctant to deny him things that made his eyes sparkle in such a way – especially as getting a little wet wasn't going to cause him any lasting harm. It was a relief, she admitted to herself, that Jasper had been acting happier these last couple of months, for, only once his little face had stopped looking so white and pinched, and his large brown eyes had regained their sparkle, had she realised just how… _drawn_ and anxious he had been. Granted, Jasper now slept in their bed every night, refusing to sleep alone in his own (something that Morty was wont to mutter sullenly under his breath about every couple of weeks), but he was definitely happier. Rose knew Jasper was bound settle down again, and the phase of sharing their bed would pass; there was no need to rush him into sleeping alone, for it was only likely to make the child _more_ anxious to do so. Rose giggled to herself as she pictured Morty's mutinous face every time he came to bed and saw the small golden head sleeping soundly upon both of their pillows. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes at both her husband and her son, Rose turned reluctantly back to the cookbook. She hated Monday evenings; Morty stayed late at the Gym, which meant it was her turn to cook, and cooking she did _not_ enjoy.

-o-

Jasper wrenched the back door open and ran blissfully out onto the muddy, squelchy grass. The mud encompassed his little shoes almost as far up as his ankles – but he didn't notice: Raichu was also in the garden, and boy and Pokémon stood rooted to the spot as the black eyes met the brown, neither having expected to see the other.

Jasper felt the blood rise up to his face as he blushed; he felt very nervous all of a sudden and was unsure as to why. But when he saw the way Raichu was regarding him, with fear and mistrust in his round, black eyes, Jasper remembered.

"H-hello Raichu," he managed to stammer. He would have taken a step closer to the Pokémon as a friendly gesture, but his little legs seemed to have seized up.

A few metres away, Raichu exhaled slowly, and felt his muscles relax slightly. Jasper's voice was normal, and his brown eyes looked bright, if a little cautious. He was the nice Jasper, the _good_ Jasper. In fact, Raichu thought to himself, it had been a couple of months since he had sensed anything 'off' in the child. His hopes rising, Raichu took a step closer to Jasper, and gave a small smile.

"Rai Rai?"

Jasper's eyes widened considerably, and he too gave an involuntary smile.

"You want to _play_ with me?"

Raichu nodded, his heart swelling at the visible happiness on the child's face. However, Raichu did not want this playtime to turn sour, as so many others had in the past few months.

"Raichu," he replied, with a slight warning in his tone.

"Hurt you?" Jasper replied, bewildered, "why would I hurt you?"

Raichu narrowed his eyes, and scrutinised the boy's face, but he could find no trace of deceit.

"Rai Raichu!" he said earnestly, watching Jasper warily.

"I didn't!" the child cried, "I've _never_ hurt you! Last time we played together _you_ hurt _me_!"

Jasper could feel his lower lip beginning to tremble in hurt and indignation.

"Chu," Raichu contradicted stubbornly, still watching the child for any strange signs. And then it happened. The bright brown eyes seem to drain of light, and Jasper's face contorted. He took a step towards Raichu, his hand raised as though to strike.

"Rai _Rai_!" Raichu exclaimed leaping backwards, attempting to shield his face whilst swinging his tail away from the child's grasp: he did not want to shock Jasper again, and so he poised himself for flight rather than fight, as would be his natural instinct.

Jasper blinked, and stared down at his hand, which was outstretched in front of him. He seemed to be lunging towards the electric Pokémon, his centre of gravity having shifted from having his feet parallel, to having one foot decidedly in front of the other; and his whole arm seemed to be tingling… _burning_ almost. How had it happened? He had made no move, as far as he was aware, towards Raichu…

"Raichu Rai," the Pokémon whispered sadly, relaxing slightly now he was sure Jasper was no longer about to strike.

Jasper continued to stare at his hand, his brown eyes narrowing as he strained himself to _think_. And the more he thought, the more he…remembered? Raichu had made him angry, he had implied that Jasper had been lying, saying that Jasper _had_ hurt him, Raichu, the last time they played…but he hadn't…had he?

Feeling very confused, and a little bit funny in his tummy, Jasper sat on his bottom on the muddy floor, taking no notice of the wet mud soaking through his shorts. He was still staring at his own small hand, and the more he stared, the more he felt. The tingling burn that he was aware of had started to recede from his fingertips and was making its way slowly up his arm. Its potency was fading, Jasper realised. But somehow, he was now aware that when he touched someone with his burning hand, he would be able to make _them_ burn too…he could hurt them, although it didn't hurt him…

"Raichu," Jasper began, his brown eyes wide as he realised what he must have done, "Raichu…I-I didn't _mean_ to hurt you last time I…I don't even _remember_ –" he stopped speaking abruptly, his eyebrows almost meeting across his nose with the severity of his frown.

As the tingling burn continued to fade from Jasper's hand and arm, Raichu himself became aware that the creeping, smothering sensation that he felt in the air when 'good Jasper' became 'bad Jasper' was lessening. Raichu had always assumed that the feeling was his own; a fearful reaction to the change in the child - but it was not. Although it did affect the way that Raichu felt, this creeping _something_ was not just an emotion, but rather, something that was tangibly present. Raichu could not understand it, and could not have put it into words had he tried. But this _thing_ , this thing that was made of darkness, and that only made itself known when Jasper was near, was no more a part of the golden haired child than it was Raichu.

-o-

Morty unlocked the front door and grumpily shook the raindrops from his dark blond hair. He was trying not to dwell on the fact that, after nine years as a Gym Leader, he was starting to feel somewhat disenchanted by the role…*

Kicking off his boots, he made his way through to the open-plan kitchen-living area, where he could see Rose gazing out of the kitchen window. The fact that she was standing in semi-darkness, and that there was no smell of cooking in the air, made Morty deduce that his wife had not made dinner. He wasn't sure whether to be amused or irritated, for he really was very hungry.

She heard him approach, and beckoned him silently towards her, her cat-shaped brown eyes alight with excitement. Morty rolled his own eyes, but couldn't help smiling as he moved towards her to see out of the kitchen window. What he saw made his mouth fall open: Raichu and Jasper were playing together, and both looked very happy indeed, despite the rain that was now pouring heavily down upon them.

"Didn't I tell you they'd settle down?" Morty grinned as he pulled Rose towards him.

She wrinkled her nose before she pecked him on the lips.

"I suppose you did," she conceded, "and you know how I hate it when you're right," she teased, her eyes dancing.

Morty gave a soft laugh as he held her tighter against his chest, but his stomach growled earnestly, and he found that he could not ignore it.

"Do you fancy a take-away?" he smiled into her hair.

Rose pulled back from his chest in alarm, her eyes wide and her hand flying upwards to cover her mouth. She had completely forgotten about cooking, what with her excitement over Jasper and Raichu's rekindled friendship.

"Don't worry," Morty winked, his turn to tease, "I can see you tried _really_ hard," he gestured towards the packet of frozen mincemeat and the unchopped vegetables that lay on the chopping board.

"Oh shut up," Rose snapped, trying and failing to hide her guilty smile as she slapped him on the arm.

-o-

The weather became significantly drier as April rolled around, the spring breezes blowing away the last of the winter rains. The bird Pokémon sang happily from the cherry tree in Morty and Rose's back garden, and Jasper was still his happy, open little self. Quite a large portion of this happiness was due to the fact that he and Raichu were once again 'as thick as thieves', as Isadora would say. Nevertheless, despite Jasper and Raichu having regained their friendship, it had taken a definite turn. Yes, they still played together¸ but Raichu, and now Jasper too, was aware of just how quickly things could change. On the one hand, Jasper had left behind his anxiety of the winter months, no longer afraid of being 'watched' in the night. This was largely due to the fact that every night he could be found sleeping between his parents, secure in their presence and their warmth. On the other hand, he was still wont to experience the strange sensation in his stomach – usually when he was feeling angry or frustrated – that was accompanied by the flash of fire that moved rapidly from his shoulder down to the very tips of his fingers.

Raichu had come to the conclusion that this was in no way Jasper's fault; Jasper was a good child, and Raichu did not wish to see him suffering. So the electric Pokémon had devised a plan. Raichu remembered being a Pichu, before he had left Chicory Forest to travel with Rose, and he remembered how difficult he had found it to control his electric powers. In fact, before he had been trained by Rose, he had hardly had any control over them whatsoever.

Jasper, Raichu had therefore deduced, only needed similar training himself to enable him to stop accidently hurting Raichu when they played together. Jasper did not _want_ to hurt anyone - that much was clear from the way his large brown eyes would fill with tears every time he caused Raichu to cry out in pain. But he was improving. It had taken a long time, almost a month, for Jasper to recognise when the burning power he possessed was going to arise; it only seemed to come forth when he was angry. But, he could not learn to control it until he learnt to recognise exactly when it was going to occur.

The bright, breezy, Saturday morning in April was just another of Jasper's 'training sessions'. Morty and Rose were painting the kitchen, keeping half an eye on the child and the Pokémon in the garden. Raichu, although Jasper didn't realise it, had learnt ways to deliberately anger the child whilst they played together. Jasper was too good-natured to become naturally angry often, but Raichu knew that if Jasper was ever going to control this power, he needed to get used to the feel of it – and fast.

Jasper gave a small gasp as he once again felt the flash of fire beginning to tingle and smoulder in his shoulder joint. Only a split second after the arrival of the sensation, Jasper felt the fury, and all he knew was that he wished to strike the electric Pokémon in front of him, to cause Raichu as much pain as he possibly could. But now Jasper was much more aware of the burning sensation and, as Raichu had been instructing him to, he began to count, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes as he concentrated, attempting to prevent the fire flashing down his arm and manifesting itself in his fingertips. His task was to be able to hold the sensation off for ten whole seconds.

"One…two…three…" he panted, desperate to hold it back lest he hurt his friend, "four…five…six…" perspiration began to bead his forehead with the effort it was taking him to keep the fire at bay, to keep it burning only in the region between his shoulder and elbow, "seven… _eight_!"

Raichu leapt backwards as Jasper's small hand groped towards him. His brown eyes were cold once more, having finally lost his battle against the sensation, which surged inevitably down to his fingers. But every day the child _was_ growing stronger, and he was able to keep the power at bay for longer. Jasper also seemed to come back to himself more readily now that he was aware of his power; it seemed like almost no effort for him to slip back into being 'good Jasper'.

"Raichu! Chu!"

"You really think so?" Jasper panted, wiping his sweaty, dark blond hair from his eyes, "you really think one day I'll be able to hold it back forever?"

"Rai," the Pokémon confirmed with a smile and a nod.

-o-

Jasper's latest effort had exhausted him, and Raichu too. They had only been outside for a mere half hour when they slumped into the kitchen, yawning and hungry.

Raichu had a bowlful of his own food in the kitchen, so he began to tuck into it happily.

"Ma? Can I have something to eat?"

Rose checked her watch.

"It's not long until lunch, Jas," she said, "can you wait? Daddy's just popped out to buy some bread, and as soon as he's back we can eat – okay?" she smiled.

"Okay," the child returned, "please may I have my new book to read? I can't reach it."

"All right," his mother winked, "I'll get it, but mind you don't touch any of the paint all right? It's still wet!"

She left the kitchen to fetch Jasper's new book, which was on the higher shelf in the living room.

As soon as she was out of sight, Jasper automatically placed his small hand on the freshly painted kitchen wall, leaving a textured handprint. Brown eyes wide with interest, he dragged his hand upwards, and giggled at the messy, smudgy smear. There was an ugly patch now where the wall had been a very neat, smooth sage green.

"Here you g-" Rose began to say, holding the book out to her son, before her mouth fell open in horror. Jasper, who had held out his small hand to receive the book, wondered why his mummy suddenly looked so furious.

"Jasper!" she shouted, "What on _earth_ possessed you to do such a thing? I specifically _told_ you not to touch the wall!"

Raichu looked around from his food bowl – he didn't think he had ever heard Rose raise her voice in such a way…not for many years anyway, and _never_ to Jasper…

Jasper's own small mouth fell open in confusion, and his huge brown eyes grew wide and fearful. His mummy never shouted. Looking down, he spotted the green paint all over the palm of his right hand. How had it gotten there?!

"I-I didn't do it!" he stammered, realising why Rose looked so mad.

Rose seemed to swell with fury.

"Don't you _dare_ lie to me young man," she said in an icy whisper, as she took hold of his little wrist.

Jasper found the whisper scarier than the shouting, and he couldn't prevent the tears rolling down his cheeks. He hadn't _done_ it! But then…why was his hand green?

"Why did you do it?" Rose snapped, Jasper's tears only causing her to feel more irritated.

Still the child did not answer, but he turned towards the wall, staring at the patch that he had ruined.

"It wasn't me," he said, his lower lip trembling. _It was Zyrir_.

The voice in his head was his own – but he had never heard that name before; he didn't know who Zyrir was.

" _I told you not to lie_!"

"What's going on?" Morty asked, as he entered the kitchen with a frown. His violet eyes roved over the ruined patch of wall, over to his son's green hand, and finally to the fire that was blazing in Rose's eyes as she held fast to Jasper's wrist.

"Jasper…" Morty said sadly, "why did you do that?"

The disappointment in his father's voice was too much. Jasper burst into noisy tears. He was being told off, but he hadn't done anything. He didn't even _remember_ touching the wall – he hadn't wanted to! His mummy and said not to and he _always_ did as he was told…

"And why did you lie to your mummy about it?" Morty continued, crouching down next to Rose so that he could see directly into his son's eyes.

"I d-didn't d-do it!" the child continued to bawl miserably.

"Jasper," Rose said, trying hard not to lose her temper again, "there is paint all over your hand, and _your_ handprint is on the wall – why are you lying to us? Don't you know that's a _very_ nasty thing to do?"

Concerned though they were over this strange show of behaviour from their son, Morty and Rose had to hide their laughter as Jasper rubbed at his tears, leaving huge green smudges all over his little face.

"I d-didn't –" he began, but he stopped himself. Because why _was_ his hand green if he didn't do it? "I didn't _mean_ to do it," he finally mumbled.

Rose gave a sigh as she pulled the paint-covered little boy into her arms; she was wearing her painting clothes anyway.

"I can understand that it seemed like fun, Jas," she said softly, "but daddy and I spent a long time painting this morning…and I know it's only a little bit that you touched, and that it won't take long to fix, but you shouldn't deliberately ruin other people's things, _especially_ after I asked you not to…okay?"

Jasper took in a deep breath. He didn't know what to say. He hadn't _wanted_ to ruin his mummy and daddy's work…he gave a small, confused frown as he tried to think it all through.

"And you must never lie," Morty added, "trying to cover up your mistakes tends to get you in _more_ trouble…just be honest with us, Jas."

The golden-haired child gazed up into his parents' faces. He loved them so much, and he never wanted to make them angry again. Giving a small sob, he launched himself forwards onto both of them, crying harder as they cuddled him against them.

 _Stupid Zyrir_ , he thought, _getting me into trouble_.

It took a minute for Jasper to realise what he'd thought. Who was Zyrir?

-o-

"I have absolutely _no_ idea what to do with him," Rose said angrily as she came down the stairs, having just put Jasper to bed…their bed. A month had passed since the paint incident, but Jasper had deliberately pushed a freshly baked cherry pie off the kitchen table that evening, and had been brazen enough to lie about it again.

Morty heaved a great sigh, although he too was at a loss as to how to deal with the situation.

"I just don't understand why he lies…he's not stupid, it's obvious we _know_ that he's lying…"

"It's such a horrible habit in a child," Rose continued, "and I _really_ don't want to feel as though I can't trust him…but that's the second time he's done it now!"

Morty pulled her towards him on the sofa, and rested his chin thoughtfully on her dark hair.

"You're certain it wasn't an accide-?"

"I wish it was," Rose replied mutinously, "I watched the cheeky little bugger deliberately push it off the table."

Morty tried hard to stifle a laugh; it really wasn't funny, but he couldn't help it. Rose could also feel her lips twitching in spite of herself.

"It's just the lying…" Morty sighed, "I could get on board with the naughtiness…well, within reason," he grinned; he had really been looking forward to that cherry pie, "but the lying is…"

He hesitated, unable to find the right word.

"The lying is dreadful," Rose said baldly, "and it needs to stop."

"He must still be feeling very unsettled…"

"We've lived here almost a year now, Morty," Rose scoffed, "if he's not settled now, he never will be."

"Well maybe he'd feel more settled if he slept in his own bed," Morty muttered under his breath.

He looked up tentatively when Rose didn't reply, and saw that she was trying very hard not to laugh at the grumpy expression on his face.

"What?!" he exclaimed indignantly, "I never sleep! He kicks me half to death most nights!"

Rose merely raised an eyebrow now, her eyes sparkling.

Morty looked away from her, biting the insides of his cheeks to prevent his own laughter escaping.

Rose climbed onto his lap, and held his face in her hands.

"Look me in the eye," she grinned, "and tell me _that's_ the reason you wished Jasper didn't sleep with us."

Morty's face began to tinge pink, and Rose burst out laughing, before she leant forward and kissed him.

"Maybe we could try and move him once he's asleep?" she mused, "but in the meantime…be a little spontaneous," she jokingly teased, "who needs a bedroom?"

"Who indeed?" Morty grinned, as he kissed her back with enthusiasm.

 ***see my other fic, We Can Make It If We Try, Chapter 'Rose vs Morty' if you're interested!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Childhood Years: Insight

It transpired that moving the sleeping Jasper into his own bed had _not_ been their smartest move. Granted, he hadn't stirred until about two in the morning, but Morty and Rose had not spent all of those hours sleeping... They were also feeling a combination of guilty and worried, for Jasper had awoken screaming and crying from a nightmare, and had not managed to fall asleep again for over an hour, nestled between the exhausted Morty and Rose in their bed, the main light switched on.

"Poor little thing," Rose whispered sadly as she gently brushed the golden hair back from Jasper's sleeping face.

Morty himself had a very pained expression in his violet eyes. He could not help but be reminded of that period, before Jasper was born, when Rose herself had been severely troubled by nightmares…

"Do you think we should still go to the Tin Tower tomorrow?" Rose asked. She wasn't sure what Jasper was going to feel up to; it had been a very traumatic night for him.

"I was wondering that," Morty mused, "but maybe Uncle Perrin'll have some advice? Believe it or not, he knows a thing or two about children – my parents always used to seek his advice when I was little and…well…y'know…"

Rose did know. Morty had spent much of his childhood being very unwell, plagued by the visions that his clairvoyance forced him to suffer. It had been his Uncle Perrin, the Sage of the Tin Tower, who had helped him through the difficult times. Rose frowned slightly as she surveyed her sleeping son. It had never really crossed her mind before, how horribly difficult it must have been for Isadora and Hector, seeing their only son suffer and knowing there was nothing they could do about it. At least Jasper wasn't actually ill, at least, unlike his father, he hadn't been born to be an integral part in what most believed to be a far-fetched legend. A cold shiver ran down Rose's spine at the mere thought of it.

"You're right – it wouldn't hurt to get his advice."

-o-

"Well night terrors are, as I'm sure you know, fairly common in children of Jasper's age," Perrin told them as he stroked at his white beard. They were sat in the bare basement kitchen of the Tin Tower where the Sages prepared their three, humble daily meals.

Morty and Rose both nodded in silence, waiting to hear more.

"What was his nightmare about, do you know?"

Morty shook his head this time, frowning slightly.

"I-I'm not sure," he said quietly, as the three adults watched the child playing on the rug with one of Perrin's Eevees, "the thing is, he started to come into our bed every night, back in July, because he didn't like being alone in his room."

"Indeed?" the old Sage asked in apparent interest.

"Yes," Rose agreed, "it got to the point where it became easier to just put him down in our bed - at least that way his sleep wasn't broken…"

"I'm assuming _your_ sleep was though?" Perrin asked, his dark eyes twinkling.

Morty rolled his eyes in agreement, but he too was smiling.

"Jasper?" Perrin called, "come here a moment, dear boy."

Jasper stood up and surveyed his great-great uncle through large, cat-shaped brown eyes – just like his mother's.

"Yes, Uncle Perrin?"

The boy giggled as the Eevee followed him and began to lick at his bare knee in earnest.

"Tell me," the Sage began kindly, "why is it that you don't like sleeping in your own bedroom?"

Jasper frowned, and opened his mouth to answer, before closing it again, and looking very confused. Morty and Rose held themselves unnaturally still as they listened. They had never managed to get it out of him.

"I just…I always feel like there's something _in_ there," he mumbled, knowing he must sound like a baby.

"Well I'm sure there're many things in that lovely room of yours!" Perrin smiled, "do you still have the little wooden table and chair that I gave you for Christmas?"

Jasper nodded and his brown eyes lit up, "Yes I have! I do all my drawing on there – don't I Ma?"

"You certainly do," Rose smiled. She was slightly in awe of the older man's skill in getting the child to talk so freely.

"And can you tell me what else you have in your room Jasper? It's been a very long time since I visited your house, hasn't it?"

Jasper happily began to tick off all of the toys and other things that he had in his bedroom, the three adults watching him curiously.

"Why, Jasper!" Perrin said with an air of great surprise when the child finally finished, "with such lovely things in your bedroom, why don't you want to sleep in there?"

The child quietened again, nibbling as his lower lip as he considered the question.

"When the light turns off and…and when I'm all alone I feel like…like there's something _bad_ watching me."

Morty and Rose clasped hands tightly underneath the scrubbed wooden table. They had had no idea…

Perrin nodded slowly, and Jasper became suddenly desperate to prove himself.

"But I know there's nothing there _really_ ," he said earnestly, "because I get up and turn on the light and everything is _always_ the same. I even check under the bed, but nothing's there _ever_."

Rose felt her heart break. He tried so hard to be brave.

"That's a very grown up thing to do," Perrin told the child seriously, "but I don't understand Jasper…when you realise nothing's there, why do you go into mummy and daddy's room?"

"Because I still have the funny feeling, even though I've seen that nothing is there," Jasper replied with innocent logic.

"What is the funny feeling?" Perrin asked lightly, as if it were of no real importance.

"Like…" Jasper attempted to explain with gestures from his little hands, but he couldn't seem to manage it.

"Is the funny feeling in your tummy? In your head?"

"In my tummy," the child confirmed with a single nod.

Morty smiled to himself; Jasper seemed so grown up, having this serious conversation with his Uncle Perrin.

"And so, when you go to your mummy and daddy's bed…?"

"The funny feeling goes," the child confirmed, "that's why I like sleeping there," he said quietly.

-o-

"He's certainly a very bright little thing," Perrin mused.

He, Morty, and Rose were watching the child from the small kitchen window; he was out in the vegetable garden, curiously watching another of the Sages plant potatoes.

"What do you mean?" Morty asked.

"He's bright…clever. That much is obvious; the way he manages his fear is, in actual fact, most mature…and his imagination must be extremely heightened if he is still able to feel fear once he has convinced himself there is physically nothing sinister in his bedroom…"

"But what can we do?" Rose asked earnestly.

Perrin smiled at her. Although it was clear that her concern was reserved for her son alone, the dark circles under both her and Morty's eyes, and their unusually pale complexions, told Perrin that they, too, were suffering.

"I don't think the problem is a great one," Perrin told them, although he could not quite meet their eyes as he said this, "I rather believe that Jasper _should_ have company at night – there is no need to have him getting worked up over sleeping alone…"

"I suppose we could take it in turns to sleep with him in our bed?" Morty suggested, "and the other could sleep in his bed?"

But Perrin was already shaking his head.

"No my dear boy," he said; although Morty was now married with his own child, Perrin still thought of him as the little violet-eyed child troubled by visions, "you two need your own space in that department." He tactfully continued to stare out of the window, allowing the young couple to get over their blushes.

"Then…what?" Rose asked, frowning.

"I was thinking more along the lines of Pokémon companionship."

Morty and Rose blinked in surprise.

"That could be an idea…" Morty said slowly, astounded that they hadn't thought of it themselves.

"Raichu might," Rose mused, "although considering what happened…"

"Jasper and Raichu had a…falling out of sorts not long ago," Morty informed Perrin, who had raised a questioning eyebrow at Rose's statement. The Sage nodded slowly to himself, but said nothing more on the subject.

"I was actually thinking along the lines of an Eevee."

"An Eevee?" Rose and Morty repeated together.

"Yes, we've just had a few hatchlings, and this year we seem to have more Eevees than qualified Kimono Girls…I was always going to let Jasper have one when he turned ten, but maybe now would be a more appropriate time?"

Morty and Rose considered this.

"It's very generous of you, Perrin," Rose said graciously, "but Morty and I have many more Pokémon between us and –"

"Do you have any objection to Jasper having a Pokémon of his own at this age?" Perrin interrupted; the child was only five after all.

"No not at all!" Rose exclaimed, "I just didn't want you to feel as though you had to."

"It would be my pleasure," Perrin smiled.

The smile dropped from the Sage's face as he turned away from Morty and Rose. Eevees were considered to be full of light, full of positive energy; it was after all a Jolteon, a Flareon, and a Vaporeon that Ho-Oh had chosen to resurrect from the great fire all those centuries ago. Perrin sincerely hoped that he was growing paranoid in his old age…there was probably nothing wrong with the child…but it wouldn't hurt to give Jasper such a companion, one that could perhaps act as a shield against the horrors he felt at night, be they a figment of his imagination or… _not_.

-o-

"Goodnight my little love," Rose smiled as she closed Jasper's bedroom door.

"Night Ma," the child returned sleepily, as Eevee, who curled up next to him, also gave a tired 'cheep'. It had been this simple for almost a month now; Perrin had been right.

Still smiling to herself, Rose made her way downstairs to the living room, where Morty handed her a fresh cup of tea.

"I still can't believe it," she sighed happily as she curled up closer to her husband, "all it took was his own little Pokémon to sleep with him…and he's fine!"

Morty smiled back at her and kissed her forehead.

"He seems happier generally too, don't you think?" he asked.

"Yeah – he does. You know," Rose began, before taking a sip of tea, "I was actually growing sort of paranoid before…"

"Paranoid?"

"Yeah…stupid I know, but he's such a…such a spirited, _serious_ little thing, at times…I couldn't help but worry that he was like…well…that he was like _you_ were."

"Clairvoyant?"

"Something like that," Rose conceded, "I don't know, he just seems different to other children somehow."

Morty nodded.

"Dad says he still doesn't play with them much at school…"

"He's too interested in Eevee now though," Rose mused, "I know if _I'd_ had my own Pokémon at that age, Tripp wouldn't have had a look-in," she laughed.

"True," Morty agreed, "it was different for me, I had Eusine and Callisto around all the time at home – so I didn't really bother with friends in school either."

Inspiration struck Rose at this statement.

"Hey!" she said, grabbing Morty's arm, "Clair and Lance!"

"What about them?" Morty asked, bemused.

"We've not seen them in years, and the twins are about Jasper's age!"

"Yeah they are," Morty answered thoughtfully, "they must be…six months younger than him?"

"Aren't their birthdays in August?"

"Exactly a week after mine," Morty said, "so…the eighteenth?"

"Let's do it! We can make a visit to Blackthorn for their birthdays, and hopefully Jasper'll get on with them!" Rose grinned excitedly. It had been a very long time since she had seen her cousins, and she found, to her surprise, that she really had missed Clair and Lance.

-o-

Late July was a very important time of year in Ecruteak City, for it marked the beginning of the three day long Festival of Firelight – the dedication to Ho-Oh, the legendary Pokémon of the skies. The whole city was bustling; Kimono Girls were perfecting the dances that they were to perform, flame cakes were being churned out by the dozen in every bakery in town; every street was abundant with red, yellow, and orange crepe paper streamers – a tribute to the flames that the mighty Ho-Oh used to resurrect those it considered worthy. All in all, the whole of Ecruteak City was buzzing, and no expense had been spared. Morty, too, could feel his excitement growing. He remembered how, every year as a child, Hector had taken him to the opening of the festival, to watch the three enormous floats, representing the legendary Pokémon of the sky, the sea, and the darkness, as they made their way through the city streets before coming to rest at the Burnt Tower. This was the considered sacred place where, so many centuries ago, Ho-Oh had resurrected the Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon that were trapped there in the Great Fire, and elevated them into the three legendary beasts: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.

Morty had dinner with Rose and Jasper as usual, and as soon as they had finished, he stood up, his eager excitement almost childlike in nature.

"Come on Jas," he grinned, as he wiped his hands on his jeans in anticipation, "daddy's taking you somewhere special this evening."

The child gazed up at him with curious brown eyes, "But it's nearly bedtime? Aren't I staying with Grandma and Grandpa tonight?"

The sky outside had turned a dusky purple, and the first stars were visible as tiny silver pinpricks.

"Well, I _did_ have a little surprise for you, a surprise that meant you can stay up late, _way_ past bedtime…but are you too tired?" Morty asked the little boy in mock concern, flashing a wink to Rose who had to try hard to stifle her laugh.

"No, no!" Jasper exclaimed, almost knocking over his chair in his haste to join his father.

"Excellent," Morty said, now feigning relief as he ruffled his son's dark blond hair, "now run upstairs and grab your rucksack – and your jumper! – I don't think it's very warm tonight."

Jasper raced up the stairs as though he had wings on his feet, and Morty and Rose laughed.

-o-

"So where are we going?" the five year-old asked as he grasped his father's hand tightly, his cheeks pink with excitement.

"You'll see," Morty laughed easily, "Grandpa used to take _me_ here when _I_ was a little boy."

Morty smiled to himself as Jasper blinked in wonder, trying to get his head around a time when Grandpa Hector had been just a daddy, and when his _own_ daddy had been as little as he was.

It only took them a few minutes to walk into town, Jasper growing more and more excited, and his questions growing more incessant as his bright brown eyes took in the wonder all around him. He was never usually out on the streets at this time, and it was so _busy_! Many people, like himself and Morty, were walking through the streets, stopping at stalls to buy toffee apples and flame cakes, shouting out to their friends that they recognised on the way. There was another stall, where sat a lady, painting flames with glittering paint onto the faces of bright-eyed children, and hundreds and hundreds of fire balloons were lighting up the dusky evening sky, causing the stars to appear dim in comparison to their warm, glowing light. Jasper's little face was transported, and Morty felt his heart expand in such a manner that he felt rather choked for a moment, watching his son's reaction to all of this splendour and excitement for the very first time.

"Daddy _look_!" Jasper exclaimed, pointing: somewhere in the distance, somebody was flying a Ho-Oh shaped kite, and fireworks in all colours of the rainbow were being set off on the opposite bank of the river.

"Just wait Jas," Morty said, unable to keep from grinning - the excitement was infectious, "wait until you see what's coming."

The town square was already filled with spectators; Morty and Jasper stood around the edges of the square along with many other hundreds of men, women, children, and Pokémon, all waiting with baited breath for the procession to begin in the large, open space in the centre. The air was alive with chatter, dancing lights, and the delicious smells of the many treats that wafted enticingly from the many brightly coloured food stands.

Suddenly, the noise from the crowd died down as a man, wearing a rainbow-striped cloak, complete with a rainbow feather headdress, stepped into the empty space surrounded by the eager crowd of Ecruteak's citizens.

" _Ladies, gentlemen, children, and Pokémon!_ " he boomed from the small microphone mouthpiece attached to his headdress, " _the time has come…_ " the speaker paused dramatically, allowing the last voices in the excitable crowd to die down. Morty lifted Jasper into his arms so he could see over the heads of the people in front of him.

The speaker began to move freely through the open space that was the town square, tinkling and jingling as he went, and Jasper realised that he had tiny silver bells attached to his shoes.

" _The night is warm and clear, and in the winds, I hear something…_ "

The crowd was now expectantly silent, and sure enough, through a cleverly engineered sound system, the town square was filled with the gentle, tinkling sound of a wind-chime.

" _It is the sound of a Bell…a most beautiful, delicate Bell…and this sound can only mean one thing…_ "

"Ho-Oh!", "He means _Ho-Oh_!" many children screamed from the crowds.

Morty saw Jasper mouth the name himself; his brown eyes were so wide that Morty could see the lights of the fire lanterns reflected in them.

" _HO-OH!_ " the rainbow-clad speaker exclaimed, " _Legendary Guardian of the Skies! We call upon you! Come down to us from the heavens that you reside in, bless us with your Firelight! Keep us safe! Keep us warm, and never let us know the touch of Chaos…_ "

The awed crowd was once again silent, and Morty felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The sound of the wind-chime-like bell intensified, and from a corner of the square came seven Kimono Girls, each dressed in a different colour of the rainbow. They took their positions, standing as still and as silently as statues, waiting for their signal, every eye in the crowd upon them. The music changed; the haunting melody of a shamisen started up – and the Kimono Girls began their dance. Their movements were precise, fluid, and deliberate, and the crowd watched, slack-jawed as the seven dancers began to lead the procession slowly through the square, towards the Burnt Tower on the opposite side of the city, dancing and turning gracefully the whole way. From another corner of the square, behind the town hall, came the main body of the procession. Three floats, gigantic in size, towering above the crowd, made their slow, impressive way into the square, following the lead of the Kimono Girls, who continued to move rhythmically to the slow, steady beat of the shamisen.

The first float was mainly white, and the enormous creature depicted was Lugia; the Guardian of the Sea. The model was comprised of whitish silver silk, purple streamers rippling from it, depicting the smooth, streamlined shape of the legendary Pokémon that slept beneath the waves. The model's mouth opened and closed in time to the beat, and its amethyst coloured eyes seemed strangely alive in the flickering, shimmering light from the fires that burnt merrily throughout the square. Jasper's mouth hung open as the float passed, towering twenty feet above him, and completely obscuring the crowd on the opposite side of the square.

" _Lugia…_ " the rainbow speaker whispered, the sound nonetheless carrying throughout the crowd, " _the Guardian of the Sea…sleeping now, only to awaken to calm the storms caused by the ceaseless rivalry of its minions…Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres…_ "

A second float came some fifty metres behind the first. Another creature was represented here in masses of glossy black material, pulled tight around the frame of the model so that its hideous shape was highlighted: a monstrous, spiny Dragon with a long, snarling snout. Foot long fangs had been replicated in what looked to be silver foil; its clawed hands and tail looked menacingly sharp, and its immense, bright golden eyes, with eerie, vertical pupils, were a splash of golden glitter.

The crowd hissed, as was tradition, and the model Dragon opened its jaws wide, its tail swinging from side to side. The hissing grew in intensity, for the rainbow speaker, too, was hissing into his mouthpiece.

" _Chaos…the Beast of the Darkness, ruler of fear, of anger, of jealousy and greed…he knows no mercy…shun his temptations, and instead let your heart be filled with Firelight…_ "

Morty's fists were clenched as he forced himself to stare up at the representation of that foul creature. Surprisingly, the depiction was very accurate, considering very little was documented on the legendary beast. Morty allowed himself a grim smile, however, for he knew that there was no reason to fear _this_ particular Pokémon any longer.

Jasper's brown eyes had widened, and his pupils contracted in fear as he stared up at the hideous Dragon, visibly shuddering as its forked tongue fell lazily from the model's leering mouth. He could not seem to tear his eyes away from the creature's own eyes…golden, evil…deadly. The funny feeling in his tummy, the one he had not felt in over a month, was returning - stronger than ever before, and, all of a sudden the child felt very sick. Covering his eyes with his small hands, he buried his face into Morty's shoulder, breathing heavily and unevenly.

Morty stroked his son's hair, "Don't be scared Jasper," he whispered, "it's not real…it can't hurt you…and look what's coming!"

Despite his terror, Morty's tone aroused Jasper's interest and, sure enough, fifty metres behind the dreadful black float came a third: bigger and brighter than the two before it. The great model of the Firelight Pokémon was made of rich red velvet, the ends of its tremendous wings smothered in a rainbow of glitter – an attempt to recreate the rainbow facets that supposedly shimmered from them as Ho-Oh flew. Its great plume was a mass of orange and golden feathers, also bedazzled with glitter, and its chest and underbelly a shock of the purest white. Its long, dangerously sharp golden beak was open, and its majestic head roved over the crowd, controlled from within the model by the highly skilled puppet masters.

Morty smiled as he once again glanced at his son, but his smile turned to a frown at the expression on the child's face. Jasper appeared to be looking straight at the great model of Ho-Oh, but he didn't seem to be truly seeing it; his eyes were haunted, and his little face deathly pale.

-o-

Father and son were jostled by the crowd that moved in haste to follow the procession. But Jasper didn't appear to notice. Unless Morty was mistaken, his son was actually trembling slightly. Moving with difficulty against the sea of bodies that were determinedly moving in the opposite direction towards the Burnt Tower, Morty carried Jasper off to the side. A few citizens smiled indulgently at the sight of their Gym Leader with his little son, but Morty took no notice of them.

"Hey," he said gently, trying to get Jasper to look at him properly, "hey Jas, what's the matter?"

Jasper blinked once, before slowly dragging his brown eyes to meet his father's violet ones. He still did not speak, however.

"There's no need to be frightened of the floats," Morty said gently, "you know they're not real."

"I know the _floats_ aren't real," Jasper whispered as he cuddled closer to his father, "but _they_ are…aren't they?"

Morty knew that he was referring to the legendary Pokémon that the floats depicted.

"Yes," he conceded, "they are real, but that doesn't mean you have anything to fear from them."

"B-but the big black Dragon…Chaos -" Jasper stopped abruptly. He could not begin to explain how that particular float had made him feel; how looking up into the golden, glittery eyes had awakened feelings of terror and darkness inside of him, feelings that even now he could not seem to eradicate.

It was an effort for Morty to keep his face impassive. He couldn't blame his son, really, for being afraid of the legendary Dragon: a force of complete evil, intent on causing fear, pain, and misery.

"You have absolutely _no_ reason to be afraid of Chaos," Morty repeated, smiling genuinely now at Jasper, for he knew it to be true.

"But all of the stories say that Ho-Oh and…C-Chaos are going to fight, a-and that Chaos is going to try and take over the _world_ …" Jasper's eyes, if possible, widened even further.

"Well then, let me tell you a secret," Morty said, as he carried his son further away from the chattering, milling crowd, and whispered directly into his ear, "not many people know that this big fight between Ho-Oh and Chaos has already happened."

"It has?" Jasper asked, turning to stare at Morty, his small mouth a perfect 'o' of surprise.

"Yes," Morty continued, "and _Ho-Oh_ won; he defeated Chaos. So, my little chap, you have absolutely nothing to fear from that ugly, great Dragon…" he said as he tickled Jasper's ribs, causing him to shriek with laughter, "he was defeated a long time ago."

The man smiled as he saw the worry lines fade from the child's small face. Jasper's lips curved into an answering smile as he considered his father's words, and he lay his golden head against Morty's chest, content once again.


	6. Chapter 5 - Childhood Years: Excess

The air was a lot colder in Violet City than in Ecruteak, likely due to the absence of the plethora of fire lanterns. Morty shivered as he began to jog back home, trying to keep his blood pumping and his feet warm. He found himself hoping that Jasper wasn't going to catch a cold from the evening spent outdoors - but the little boy had seemed happy enough when Morty dropped him at his own parents' house.

"You were quick," Rose remarked, looking up as she heard Morty enter their cottage.

"I ran back; it's pretty cold out."

"How did Jasper enjoy it?" Rose asked with a smile.

"He _loved_ it!" Morty exclaimed, "you should have seen his little face – his eyes were almost popping out of his head."

"Aww," Rose laughed, as she dried the last of the dinner plates, "was he all right being left with your parents?"

"Yeah, absolutely fine," Morty grinned, "so…you ready?"

"Ready?" Rose repeated blankly.

"It's _your_ turn to visit the festival," he said, his violet eyes dancing.

"Don't be stupid," Rose said, "we can't go out!"

"And why not?"

"We're supposed to be sanding the floor in the living room! What would your parents think if they knew we'd asked them to take Jasper and then went off…" she paused of think of a word incriminating enough "… _gallivanting_?!"

Rose's hands were on her hips, and she glared reprovingly up at her husband.

"Relax," he laughed, "my Ma and Dad know you've never been to the Festival of Firelight; they _offered_ to take Jasper for that very reason."

Rose raised her eyebrows, and Morty prepared himself for further arguing. However –

"All right then," she said suddenly, her face impassive but her brown eyes glittering, "I'm expecting you to show me a good time… _Ecrutetian_."

Morty laughed loudly again, before grabbing her by the hand and eagerly dragging her to the front door.

-o-

The atmosphere of the festival had changed somewhat since the early evening. Now that the traditions had been observed, the celebrations were in full swing. Rose had been unaware that Ecruteak City was home to so many young people. The odd child was still present, but they were either wild-eyed from sugar or clinging sleepily around their parents' necks.

Rose and Morty hadn't gotten much further than the first pop-up bar they had come across: they were now on their third 'Firelight' each, and were feeling very merry indeed.

"It's burning my throat!" Rose gasped as tears sprang to her eyes. The cocktail's combination of firewater, ginger beer, and cranberry juice became significantly drier and hotter in the throat the more that were consumed.

Morty laughed at her as he downed his fourth.

"You're such a fur…a _foreigner_ ," he slurred, running his hand clumsily through his hair (the cocktails were very strong), "this is Ecruteak's _signature drink_! Your _son_ is an Ecrutetian!"

But Rose was not listening. Three teenage girls of about fifteen were staring at Morty hopefully from a few metres away. One was holding a notebook and a pen – they were clearly looking for an autograph…or maybe just an excuse to talk to him; it wasn't common to see Morty so uninhibited, and the girls' stares, Rose noted, had an almost hungry quality to them. The girls themselves couldn't help but note the death stare that they were receiving from the young woman sitting beside the Gym Leader. Their eyes, that had been wide with excitement, turned even wider with fear. Rose stood abruptly from her stool at the pop-up bar, and the girls scarpered. Satisfied, Rose turned back to Morty, a most evil grin on her face.

"Oi!" Morty joked, "don't scare away the fans!"

"They're far too young for _you_ , old man," she said, pretending to scoff.

"Old man?! I'm twenty-seven!" he spluttered.

"You're not far off twenty-eight…and I'm only a tender twenty-three," Rose said with a mock sigh, before feigning to scan the crowds, "maybe I should be on the lookout for a younger model…"

She turned around when Morty took hold of her arm, and couldn't hold back the grin that mirrored his.

"You wouldn't change a _thing_ about me," Morty winked.

"I probably wouldn't," Rose returned honestly, rolling her eyes nonetheless at his drunken self-confidence. But she could see why the teenagers had been staring at him. There was just something about Morty, despite his faded, paint-spattered jeans, his scuffed boots, and his old leather jacket, that was…compelling. Rose's eyes lingered over his long, dark blond hair, the small silver hoop he had always worn in one ear, and the startling shade of his violet eyes…

"What?" Morty asked, feeling slightly nervous under her intense scrutiny.

"Nothing," Rose returned swiftly, "you're just really very attractive," she grinned.

Their evening continued in this vein, both drinking rather more than they should, and laughing more than they were used to. Morty, although he did not realise it, received many strange looks from Ecruteak's citizens; it was rare to see their stoic and reserved Gym Leader letting his hair down quite so thoroughly.

-o-

Eevee could feel her eyes drooping heavily. The bedroom in Violet City was very snug and comfortable and, as usual, being curled up against Jasper's warm body made the Pokémon feel very relaxed and sleepy. Jasper, on the other hand, began to toss and turn, and Eevee was unceremoniously shunted sideways, nearly falling off the bed.

"Eevee!" she squeaked tiredly. But Jasper did not respond. Eevee thought she could feel the child's legs trembling slightly, and she gradually began to wake up properly, blinking the drowsiness from her eyes. Not only were Jasper's legs trembling, his teeth were chattering too. Eevee clambered up onto the child's chest, and bumped her small black nose gently against Jasper's.

"D-don't do that Eevee," Jasper pleaded. He sounded as though he was trying to hold back tears, and Eevee began to worry. Instinctively, the small fox-like Pokémon used her heightened senses to see if anything was amiss; but the dark pulsing that she sometimes detected emanating from the child was absent. What, then, was wrong with Jasper?

"I w-want to go home," Jasper whispered, a large tear falling from his eye and rolling steadily down his cheek.

"Eevee!" his Pokémon replied.

"But I want my daddy," Jasper mumbled, his lower lip trembling.

Eevee continued to attempt to console the child, but neither her friendly nose nudges nor her 'words' of comfort were having any affect. Eevee did not understand – if the darkness wasn't present, then what was Jasper afraid of? The darkness, powerful though it could be, was no match against Eevee's own powers – but whatever was upsetting Jasper now, Eevee could neither sense, nor get rid of.

"I _know_ there's nothing in here," Jasper argued woefully, "and I'm _not_ scared that anything's watching me!"

More tears continued to spill down the child's pale cheeks, and Eevee gently licked them off with her small, pink tongue.

"Eevee?" the Pokémon implored.

"I don't know," Jasper answered, "I just…I want my daddy."

He began to cry bitterly, his small hands covering his face.

From downstairs, Eevee's chirping and Jasper's muffled tears alerted Isadora. She abandoned her book and made her way upstairs to the child's bedroom, her heart hammering. She did not like to hear the little boy crying, and she was also very worried as to what could have upset him so. The sound of his sobbing intensified as she opened his bedroom door gently. Jasper looked up suddenly from his hands and, upon seeing his grandmother, he leapt from the bed and into her arms, a fresh course of tears pouring down his cheeks.

"Jasper, little one, what's the matter?" Isadora murmured soothingly. She sat down on the bed with the child curled up in her lap, and rubbed soothing circles on his small back. He seemed to be trembling.

Jasper merely shook his head in response, and continued to weep against her shoulder.

"Are you missing your mummy and daddy?"

Jasper considered for a moment, but he shook his head. Now that his Grandma was here, he found he didn't need his daddy or his mummy anymore – he had just wanted someone - anyone. He cuddled in closer, his crying subsiding a little.

"What is it then?" Isadora asked kindly, as she stroked the golden-blond hair back from his face. She smiled to herself; she really did feel as though she had a young Morty back again.

Jasper looked up into his Grandma's eyes, the exact same shade as his daddy's, and he felt his lower lip begin to wobble again.

"I-I just…I don't want…I didn't like –" he hiccoughed.

Isadora remembered that he had been to the festival for the very first time; Morty had been frightened of the floats when he was this small.

"Was it the floats? Of the legendary Pokémon?"

The large brown eyes met the violet, and Jasper nodded, seemingly relived that he didn't have to say it himself.

"Well there's nothing to be scared of there," Isadora smiled, "they're nothing more than big puppets!"

"I-I know," Jasper said, frowning as he tried to puzzle through it in his head, "but…but Grandma they _are_ real."

"Well, they may be real, but I'd like to see a great legendary Pokémon like that fit in this little bedroom!"

Jasper laughed at the thought, but his little face soon returned to its worried state.

"Darling," Isadora whispered, "there's nothing to be scared of…and," she said, lowering her voice even further, "Chaos is the only one that's _really_ scary, and he's _gone_."

"I know," the child sighed, "my daddy told me."

"There we are then - so you of _all_ people have nothing to fear," the older woman smiled.

Jasper looked up at her again with a quizzical frown.

"Why _me_?"

Isadora blinked, certain she had missed something.

"Well – because your daddy was the one that helped to defeat Chaos, wasn't he? So he'd never let anything bad happen to you!"

Jasper's mouth fell open in surprise.

" _Daddy_? _He_ helped to beat Chaos?!"

Isadora frowned. Had Morty not told the child when he told him that the Chaos Pokémon was gone for good? Evidently not.

"Yes; your daddy _and_ your mummy had a big role to play, and that's why Chaos is gone. They helped Ho-Oh to defeat him."

"What did my mummy do?" Jasper whispered in awe, his brown eyes huge.

Isadora found herself wishing to backtrack. It was clear now why Morty hadn't given the child any insight – how on earth was she supposed to answer his questions without scaring him further?

"Well – your daddy was the one that fought against the Chaos Pokémon," she stammered, desperately trying to find a way to word it, "and your mummy helped him when he got hurt."

"He was _hurt_?"

"N-Not badly hurt," Isadora stammered; the memories from that awful day still caused her heart to skip in her chest when she thought about it.

"But mummy fixed him – because she's a doctor?" Jasper asked.

"That's right," Isadora agreed, pleased that Jasper seemed to be accepting her weak explanation. She decided now was the time to change the subject.

"Did you want a glass of -?"

"So that means my daddy's a _hero_ then," the child whispered, "if he helped to beat a Dragon Pokémon like Chaos…just like in the stories Grandpa reads me!"

A half smile appeared on his enthralled little face. Isadora's heart swelled with pride and love for her little family.

"Yes, he is," she said softly, "now come on; it's very, very late for you, little one!"

Once Jasper was tucked into bed again, with Eevee curled up against his shoulder, he had no trouble falling asleep at all. He felt inexplicably comforted. Not only was the Chaos Pokémon gone, and could therefore never get him, but his _daddy_ had been the one to make it happen.

-o-

When Rose awoke the following morning, many things seemed to run through her mind simultaneously: her head was extremely sore, and she clutched at it as a reflex; her tongue was stuck to the roof of her very dry mouth – which felt repulsive - why had she drunk so much last night? Rose frowned then, when she realised that she and Morty were lying on the unyielding kitchen floor, and that he was, for some absurd reason, wearing the rainbow feather headdress that had belonged to the rainbow speaker who opened the festival.

"Eugh," she groaned, as she raised herself up from the wooden kitchen floor, muscles screaming.

Morty cracked open a bleary eye, before shielding his face from the morning light streaming through the – wide open – kitchen window.

"What the hell are we doing down here?" he croaked, wincing as he sat up, the feather headdress falling to the floor. Morty surveyed it with mild surprise for a moment, before he began to poke at his forehead tenderly with a frown.

"What on earth happened to _you_?!" Rose exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth as she noticed the enormous purple bruise, and lump, on her husband's forehead.

Morty had a vague recollection of them realising, upon finally stumbling home at three in the morning, that they had both left the house without a front door key. At the time they decided that the only thing to do was get into the house via the kitchen window. Morty had climbed through first and –

"I think I slipped when I stood on the draining board…"

It came back to Rose at that moment, and she couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"You're right, you did! I think you fell headfirst from the kitchen counter onto the floor…"

"Thanks for your sympathy," Morty said sourly, but Rose could see his lips twitching.

"But why didn't we go to bed?"

"God knows," Morty replied, "I can't remember the last time I got that pissed…"

Rose laughed loudly, before clutching at her throbbing head.

"That's what you get for laughing at your beloved," Morty said smugly, sticking out his tongue at her.

-o-

Jasper sat eating his porridge very happily the following morning. Isadora watched him warily, just waiting for him to begin questioning her on Chaos's defeat and his parents' role in it…but Jasper appeared to have nothing more pressing on his mind than breakfast. Once he had finished his porridge and let the spoon fall into the empty bowl with a clatter, he picked up his cup of chocolate milk and began to drink it with gusto. Isadora absentmindedly lifted Eevee from the kitchen table where she was desperately trying to get at the remnants in Jasper's cereal bowl.

Despite the child's clear lack of concern, and apparent disinterest, regarding Chaos and his defeat, Isadora could not eliminate the hot, squirmy feeling that she had done something very, _very_ silly in telling Jasper what she had. The fact that he had not been aware of it must have meant that Morty and Rose had deliberately not told him. Nevertheless, Isadora was still undecided as to whether she should own up. It wasn't as though it was playing on Jasper's mind…the child had gone to sleep easily after her weak explanation…but still. What if the child _did_ bring it up to his parents? Surely it was better that they heard it from her, Isadora, than from Jasper himself…

She had almost fully decided that she _was_ going to tell them what she had done, when Morty walked into the kitchen: she could tell that her son was not feeling his best, and her resolve weakened considerably.

"Morning everyone," Morty said with a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Daddy!" Jasper exclaimed in excitement. He jumped up from his chair, before stopping dead as he got a good look at his father, "Daddy – what happened to your _head_?"

Isadora too had been gaping at the enormous purple swelling on her son's forehead.

"Good grief, darling," she said when she finally found her voice, "were you mugged?!"

"No, no," Morty said, in an attempt to sound breezily unconcerned, "Rose and I, er – we forgot the house key when we went out last night and…well, it was my genius idea to try climbing through the kitchen window…"

Isadora's lips twitched as realised just how pale Morty was, and how he winced when Jasper's loud, shrill voice started up again. He had clearly overindulged on the Firelights the previous night.

"Daddy _look_!" the child was tugging at Morty's hand and trying to drag him from the kitchen to the living room, "look what Grandpa and I trained Eevee to do!"

Isadora tried to stifle her laugh, for Morty looked as though he wanted nothing more than to fall into a nice, warm bed and not resurface for many, many hours. She decided that there was no need to tell him what she had told Jasper…he looked an awful state…and she doubted it would come up in conversation anyway – why would Jasper think to mention it if he was no longer frightened?

-o-

About an hour later, Isadora was wiping down the kitchen surfaces when the front door slammed with an almighty crash, causing her to jump horribly. The door had slammed so forcefully she found herself wondering if any of the glass panes were still intact.

"Hector?" she called shakily, her hand over her heart. Heavy footfalls sounded in the hall, making their way through to the kitchen, and Isadora wondered what on earth her husband was doing.

"Hector?" she called again, "What're you – oh, Morty!" she exclaimed as her son appeared in the kitchen doorway, "did you forget something?"

She automatically scanned the kitchen, but did a double-take when she saw the chilling fury in her son's violet eyes.

"Morty what's –?"

"What the _fuck_ , Ma?" he asked coldly, as he took one step further into the kitchen.

Isadora stared blankly at him, her mouth falling open.

"M-Morty –what's happ-?"

"I'm sure you know _very_ well why I've come back here!" he spat.

Isadora had never seen him so furious. Although she knew he would never strike her, or hurt her in any way, she couldn't deny that his attitude was scaring her.

"N-no –"

"So it's news to you is it?" he continued sarcastically, "that I'm suddenly Jasper's ' _hero_ '?"

Isadora's violet eyes widened in realisation, and Morty, seeing this, turned away from his mother, swearing under his breath.

"Now look here –" Isadora began, stepping towards her son, pleased that she finally knew what was going on.

"No, _you_ look here!" he thundered, "what _possible_ fucking reason can you have for telling him that shit, Ma?! What _five year-old_ needs that sort of detail?!"

"I didn't mean to –"

Morty actually roared in frustration, pulling at his long, dark blond hair.

"You _know_ what he's like! You _know_ about his nightmares! And you know he's only _just_ started being able to sleep alone again! I just don't see why the hell you would tell him that! It's not fair on _him_ for a start!"

"I-I know darling," Isadora said shakily, "if you'd just let me explain –"

"I don't _need_ you to explain! It's not rocket science! UnfortunatelyI took it for granted that it also wasn't _fucking_ rocket science _not_ to let Jasper in on the details of how I got _killed_ by the thing that scares him most!"

His continued sarcasm cut through her viciously.

"Morty –"

" _No_ , Ma! He's _my_ son! _I'm_ the one he comes crying to at night when everything starts going on in his little head! Me and Rose! We have to deal with it…he was just getting _better_ …" Morty had stopped shouting, but the defeat in his voice made Isadora feel, if possible, even worse. Tears began to collect at the corner of her violet eyes, and fell earnestly down her pale cheeks as she considered the detrimental affect her little chat with Jasper might have on his well-being.

"Morty, I'm _sorry_ ," she croaked, "I never meant to cause any harm, he…last night – after the festival, he was _terrified_ –"

"I just don't understand," Morty interrupted through gritted teeth, "why you tell a _terrified_ child that the thing they're terrified of is not only _real_ , but that his own parents have experienced it first-hand! How does that help _anything_?! I don't _want_ him to think it's likely that any legendary monsters could have an effect on his life!"

"He was _scared_! He was shaking like a leaf because of those floats! I told him there was no need to be scared – that Chaos had gone for good – and he said he knew! That you'd already told him…what was I supposed to think?!"

"Maybe if you'd thought at _all_ we wouldn't be in this situation!" Morty snapped.

"I'm sorry – all right?" she whispered, "h-he was scared and I was trying to make him feel better…does it _matter_ that he thinks of you as his hero? You're his father…it's not as if I gave him any _real_ detail…"

"He asked me what it had been like – fighting Chaos – and his _face_ …his little face was transported like…like it was something _great_! Something fucking _exciting_! What the _hell_ was I supposed to tell him, Ma? That it was one of the worst experiences of my _life_? That I could fucking _feel_ the life draining from my body no matter how hard I tried to hold on?! And then Rose –"

Morty stopped himself here – for Isadora did not know what had befallen Rose.

"Morty – I-I said I'm _sorry_ –"

"HE'S TOO YOUNG!" Morty shouted, and Isadora realised, to her horror, that Morty's eyes were filled with tears, "he's too young to be concerned with all that light and dark bullshit, and being a ' _hero_ ' – for fuck's _sake_!" his voice cracked, "there was nothing heroic _about_ it! I just…I don't want it glorified in his head…it wasn't glorious…it was _shit_."

"Morty –" Isadora tried again, not bothering to wipe away her own tears that still poured down her cheeks.

"Just forget it, Ma," Morty finally said, his voice hollow. His head was still pounding, and his stomach was churning horribly – he could have really done without this on top of his hangover.

Isadora could only nod. She could think of many more reasons to defend her actions, but she didn't want to fight with her only son.


	7. Chapter 6 - Childhood Years: Progression

Being a Pokémon, Eevee had senses that humans did not. Being a Pokémon of light however, meant that Eevee had senses that other _Pokémon_ did not. She surveyed the child sleeping before her, and cocked her head to the side slightly. She could sense that Jasper himself was calm, that he was untroubled by his dreams, but she could also sense something else. Something dark was present, something that emanated from the child as he slept. The darkness, however, was not very powerful. It was almost child-like in nature, no stronger physically than the golden haired boy in the bed. Eevee was well aware of this dark force. The only times she ever felt it were either during the night or when Raichu deliberately angered Jasper during their training sessions. But it did not worry the little fox-like Pokémon because she knew that she was very capable of getting rid of it. Concentrating on the lightness innate to her, Eevee pushed it forth into the bedroom towards the sleeping boy. Eevee was able not only to feel these forces of light and darkness, but _see_ them too. She watched in satisfaction as the dark grey wispy tendrils of smoke that were visible curling and undulating around the child's golden hair shrank back and withered as her own softly glowing, white light enveloped Jasper, keeping him safe. Satisfied now that there was nothing to fear, Eevee curled up in her usual spot next to Jasper's shoulder, and both of them slept soundly once again through the night.

-o-

Eevee and Raichu watched in excitement and trepidation as Jasper began to count.

"One…two…three…four…"

His teeth were gritted, and his bright brown eyes screwed up tightly in concentration. Eevee's tail gave an involuntary, nervous flick as she watched the boy. The wispy, dark grey smoke that neither Raichu nor Jasper could see was beginning to manifest itself around the outline of the child, smothering his usual aura of light. But Jasper wasn't about to give up.

" _Eight…nine…ten…eleven…_ "

Eevee desperately wished to intervene, to help Jasper fight away the darkness that he still wasn't quite strong enough to fight alone, but Raichu held her back. The child must try to throw off the sensation completely himself. Raichu could see the torment it caused Jasper; how the child detested the lack of control he experienced, and the eerie urges he felt to attack - to make others _hurt_. But today was different. Jasper seemed much, much stronger than they were used to seeing him.

" _Twenty-one…twenty-two…_ "

Eevee blinked, unsure as to whether what she was seeing was real or not. The smoke, unless she was mistaken, appeared to be fading. Usually in this circumstance, the smoke continued to grow thicker and darker, unleashing itself in a thick black mass before disappearing once again. Eevee, to her dismay, had started to believe that the darkness _was_ a part of the child after all, that Jasper was simply learning to control a part of himself; but Jasper was _good_ , his aura sang out to her with pure golden light – it was part of the reason she felt such an affinity with him – for they were _both_ beings of light.

The darkness was definitely fading, and Jasper continued to fight it alone.

" _Thirty-four…thirty-five…thirty-six…_ "

Normally, the sensation burst forth in a climactic rush that Jasper would be unable to control; he would be unable to hold it back any longer, and it would consume him wholly, before disappearing as quickly as the burning feeling in his arm came. But this time was different. Instead of possessing him completely, Jasper could feel the burning tingle receding. He knew that if he just held on, if he kept counting, he could push it back for good. And he did.

Raichu, although there was something warily triumphant in his black eyes, was watching Jaspercautiously, but Eevee knew that the force had gone, she could _see_ that it had. She padded across the grass towards the child in wonder, before giving a great happy chirrup and licking his hand earnestly. Jasper had really done it; he had fought off that darkness all by himself, without the need for her intervening light. It could only get better from here.

-o-

August in Ecruteak City was a very hot month indeed, and Jasper sat patiently on the front door step as he watched Rose and Morty load the bags into the old black jeep. Eevee, as usual, was not far from her owner, and was currently sheltering under his little legs, desperate to find a small patch of shade.

Jasper was excited. The feeling was all about him in the air; his mummy's eyes were bright and sparkly and she was smiling and laughing a lot. Jasper smiled when he saw his daddy wink casually at her - it made him feel warm inside. His mummy was so little, and she looked so much younger than all of the other mothers at school. Her long, dark curly hair had no greys in it, and her face was young and fresh, her brown eyes wide and clear. She was so pretty, Jasper thought, and he loved that she was _his_.

He knew that they were going to Blackthorn City for the night, but he didn't know what to expect, never having been there. He knew that his mummy's family was from there, but that she never lived there…it never quite made sense to him, but he was looking forward to it nonetheless. There was lots of talk of 'Aunty Clair', and 'Uncle Lance' and his 'cousins' whoever they were. Jasper _did_ start to feel apprehensive when he heard talk of Dragons, for this brought back memories of the horrible black float, but then he remembered that his daddy had defeated the Chaos Pokémon, and that all of the Dragons left were good ones. In fact, his father's role in Chaos's destruction comforted Jasper more than anyone knew. He was a very perceptive child, and he had not forgotten the spasm of fury that had shot through his father's eyes when he had brought up what his grandmother had told him. Jasper had not gotten into trouble, so he could only assume that Grandma had. It made him feel a little upset: he wanted to talk about it, to hear exactly what his daddy had done, but he daren't bring it up. The next time he saw Grandma after the festival, which had been a good three weeks, she had told him quietly that they must never speak of the Chaos Pokémon again, because his mummy and daddy didn't like it. Jasper had been disappointed, but he thought he might understand. Chaos was scary, and so his mummy and daddy didn't like talking about it – just like Jasper didn't like talking about when he sometimes felt that strange something in his bedroom.

-o-

The car journey seemed to go on forever – but Jasper enjoyed it. He loved looking out of the window and watching the landscape change. The ancient buildings in Ecruteak City made way for the rolling fields that took them towards the towering skyscrapers of Goldenrod City. Jasper's little nose was pressed up against the window; he had no idea buildings could even get so high, and he found himself wondering whether flying type Pokémon helped with the construction.

It was, all in all, a pleasant ride for the golden-haired child. His mummy and daddy had brought a huge pack of toffees for them to eat on the way, and they played 'eye-spy' until even Jasper grew bored of it. Jasper liked it best when his mummy and daddy turned on their favourite music and began to sing along to it. Their cheerful voices and their laughter made him feel very safe and happy. They were both so young, and so vibrant, that Jasper was often content just to listen to them talking to each other, and watching the way that their faces changed when they looked at each other.

Morty knew Johto well enough to take some handy back roads that brought them out near Cherrygrove City in little under an hour, and then the long drive north began. Again the scenery changed drastically, the little cottages of Cherrygrove City making way for the wild woodlands, before changing again to rugged mountain passes.

"Thank God we didn't sell the jeep," Morty said tightly as they drove their way across the rocky, and sometimes very steep, terrain.

"Hmm," was all Rose managed as she gripped tightly at her seat; she did not like mountains.

"Is Blackthorn City _all_ the way up here?" Jasper asked in awe. He couldn't understand why Ecruteak City had so many tourists when they could be coming _here_ instead! His brown eyes widened considerably as Blackthorn City came into view; towering, dark grey stone walls complete with merlons gave the city a forbidding feel, but Jasper was only enthralled by it all.

"It looks like a castle!" he whispered, his little hands joining his nose against the glass of the window.

Morty and Rose caught one another's eye and smiled. It was good for Jasper to come here, to meet the other half of his family and learn his heritage.

All three looked up as the colossal gates of Blackthorn City swung open slowly to allow them entry. Rose was really looking forward to this trip. Although she had spent none of her life in this ancient stronghold, the blood of the Dragon Tamers ran in her veins, and therefore in Jasper's too, and she wished to become better acquainted with her family and the city. The only time she had visited Blackthorn City previously had been for the funeral of her cousin, Pascalia. It had not been a pleasant occasion, and the reunion of her parents had made it even less so. Rose steeled herself; she was not here to dwell on the past, and she was determined to ensure that this time around pleasant memories would be made here.

-o-

"Morty! Rose!"

They had parked the jeep outside Dragon's Den, but they had to wait for a member of the Clan to let them in beyond this point – Dragon's Den was not open to the public.

"And _you_ must be Jasper?"

The golden-haired child stared up at the tall man who hailed them. He was wearing black boots and a long black cape, and upon his hands he wore fingerless, leather riding gloves. His hair was a very dark red, and stood straight upwards, and his eyes were very dark, the edges tilting upwards – like a cat's.

It was then that Jasper smiled.

"You have eyes like mine," he said astutely.

Lance gave an uproarious laugh.

"I think you'll find lots more people with eyes like yours inside," he said, before winking at Morty and Rose, "although," he continued, "I don't think I've ever seen _anyone_ who looks more like their daddy than you do!"

Jasper flushed happily; he loved being compared to his father in any way.

"How was the drive?"

Morty rolled his eyes.

"It was a freaking nightmare! Took us hours! The road to Mahogany Town has been closed off completely, so we had to drive south before making our way east and finally north again."

"Ah, yes I forgot – they're de-polluting the Lake of Rage," Lance mused as he grabbed Rose's bag from her, "I'm so sorry - we could have come and collected you on Dragonite had I remembered!"

They were spared from thanking Lance for the bizarre offer by the arrival of Clair – Rose and Lance's cousin…and Lance's wife. She beamed upon seeing the three of them and, like her husband, made a bee-line for Jasper.

"Well hello there you," she said, crouching down to his level, "don't _you_ look an awful lot like your daddy?"

Jasper smiled again – he liked these people. Eevee sensed his happiness from where she was nestled snugly in his rucksack, and she popped her head out, wanting to join in the fun.

"An Eevee!" Clair exclaimed, "Is this your Pokémon, Jasper?"

Jasper nodded happily, and Clair raised a wry eyebrow at Rose and Morty.

"How very… _Ecrutetian_ ," she laughed.

"Eevee sleeps with me every night!" Jasper piped up.

"Well aren't you lucky?" Clair said, turning her attention to the child once again, "Bonnie and Lettie will be so jealous – especially Bonnie – she's Pokémon crazy at the moment!"

"Who're Bonnie and Lettie?" Jasper asked politely.

"They're your cousins – my little girls. Come in inside, all of you – everyone's looking forward to meeting you, Jasper!" Clair smiled as she offered him her hand. Jasper took hold of it happily, and walked with his aunt into Dragon's Den.

-o-

Jasper couldn't believe the amount of family he had – all with eyes shaped like his and his mummy's. He had always thought of his family as quite small: him, his mummy and daddy, his Grandma Isadora and Grandpa Hector, and great uncle Perrin. But here in Dragon's Den he met two _more_ great uncles called Cornelio and Rodolfo; he had a _great_ -grandpa too, who was the 'Elder' of Blackthorn City (Jasper didn't really know what that meant); he had an Aunty Clair and an Uncle Lance…and two cousins.

The adults all tried to hide their smirks as the three children scrutinised each other in the blatant, tactless way that children were wont to. Rose, however, could understand Jasper's astounded reaction. The twins were absolutely identical in all but colouring; they had the same thick, straight hair that brushed their shoulder blades, complete with a blunt fringe; they had wide, cat-shaped eyes (of course); small, cherry-like mouths, and the same pale – almost translucent – skin.

"Ebony, Scarlett – what do you say?" Clair prompted them with a wry grin.

"Hello," they said to Jasper simultaneously, in the same high, sweet voice.

"Hello," he replied warily.

Rose supposed that the girl on the right must be Ebony, for her hair was a glossy, raven-black. After learning more of her heritage, Rose understood that the darker eye and hair colours that sometimes appeared in the Dragon Clan were due to the marriage of her grandfather, the Elder, to her late grandmother, who had belonged to the Dragon Clan in the Orange Islands. Due to the warmer climate, the Orange Island Dragon Tamers tended to be darker of skin, eyes, and hair. But despite her black hair, Ebony had inherited her mother's deep, indigo eyes and pale, creamy skin. Scarlett, on the other hand, favoured her father in hair colour, which was a dark, burgundy red. Her eyes, in contrast to her sister's, were a clear, pale grey, the irises rimmed with a darker shade. Both girls were striking, Rose found herself thinking.

Likewise, Ebony and Scarlett stared openly at their only cousin. Ebony could only think that he looked _weird_. Apart from the shape of his eyes, she would never have guessed that he belonged to her family. His hair was a little bit wavy for a start – Ebony had only ever seen Dragon Tamers with dead straight hair. And the colour of his hair was strange too – it was a golden, sandy colour, and she could see the lighter strands glinting by the glow of the blue Dragon flame burning in the grate. Scarlett was thinking along the same lines as her twin; Jasper looked strange to her; his skin was golden, his _hair_ was golden, and his eyes were a very bright brown. Overall he looked very _warm_ , she couldn't help but think; he stood out strangely amongst her family members in the dim, dark chamber of Dragon's Den. Scarlett knew it was silly, but the first thing that popped into her head upon seeing her cousin, was that he didn't look quite human - being all brown and tawny and golden. Scarlett looked up at Morty, and she understood. Jasper's daddy wasn't a Dragon Tamer – that must be why he looked so funny.

"Why don't you two go outside to the courtyard and show Jasper the Dragon sculptures?" Lance suggested, "See if you can remember the stories that go with them, too?"

Ebony and Scarlett nodded at their father, before their gazes returned to Jasper. Wide-eyed, Jasper turned to Rose, but she flashed him a quick wink. He felt himself relax after this, and so he too turned back to his cousins. Ebony and Scarlett together made for the door and, feeling very shy, Jasper followed them.

-o-

Even once they were alone, the three children did not become more talkative. Jasper looked around at the enormous, grey stone Dragon sculptures; they were very realistic, and he longed to know more about them. Did his cousins know more stories about Dragons and the heroes that defeated them? Scarlett appeared to become very shy, and would not take her eyes from her shoes. Ebony, on the other hand, was scrutinising her cousin once again. She didn't understand why his skin was so golden and tanned, why he looked so _different_ ; Ebony knew that some Dragon Tamers had tanned skin, but that was from riding their Dragons all day long…

"Do you ride Dragons?" she asked abruptly.

" _Ride_ Dragons?" Jasper replied, bewildered.

"Yes, do you ride on Dragon Pokémon?"

"I don't have any Dragon Pokémon," Jasper told her. He was finding his cousin stranger by the minute…

Ebony rolled her eyes. Even Scarlett looked up in interest now.

"Not you – I know _you_ don't have any Pokémon…but your mummy's a Dragon Tamer, isn't she?"

Jasper frowned.

"My mummy doesn't have any Dragon Pokémon either."

Ebony and Scarlett exchanged a 'look'.

"What?" Jasper asked defiantly; he wasn't sure how much he liked his cousins.

"So it's true," Ebony taunted, "your mummy isn't a _real_ Dragon Tamer."

Jasper did not reply. He didn't know what to say, but the way Ebony was talking about his mummy sounded _bad_.

"My mummy has a Raichu – he's _really_ strong."

Ebony laughed nastily, and even Scarlett gave a reluctant smile.

"Electric Pokémon are _rubbish_ ," she said emphatically.

"Are not!" Jasper insisted, clenching his small fists.

"Yes they are," Ebony continued with relish, " _all_ Pokémon that aren't Dragons are rubbish – Dragons can beat _all_ Pokémon - easy-peasy."

"That's not true!" Jasper said hotly, "my daddy's a _Gym Leader_ – and his Pokémon are ghost type! He has a _Gengar_!"

Ebony laughed again.

"Well _our_ daddy's a _Champion_ ," she said, " _and_ our mummy's a Gym Leader – your mummy isn't even a trainer!"

Jasper was stumped; why were these girls being so mean? His daddy was a good Pokémon trainer…everyone said so…and his mummy saved Pokémon's _lives_ …

"My mummy's a Pokémon doctor," he said quietly.

"That just means she's not a _proper_ Dragon Tamer – that's all _I_ know," Ebony said snottily.

Jasper could feel his lower lip beginning to tremble, but he would not cry in front of these girls, he _would not_. Steeling himself, he swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

"Who wants to be a stupid Dragon Tamer anyway?" he challenged.

But Ebony could see that she had struck a chord when she was mean about his mother:

"I bet she's not even your real mummy – she's too young – you're probably _adopted_."

Jasper's mouth fell open in shock. He knew his mummy looked younger than other children's…but she _was_ his…

"She _is_ my real mummy…" he said, his brown eyes welling up with tears.

"No, I don't think so," Ebony said breezily, "what do you think, Lettie?"

Scarlett considered Jasper through her clear grey eyes before she spoke.

"I think you're right…she _is_ too young to be his real mummy – and he can't prove it."

"So that means you don't have any Dragon Tamer blood at _all_ ," Ebony taunted.

"Yes I have!"

Jasper wasn't sure why he was arguing this point; from what he had experienced so far, he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to be part of the Dragon Tamer Clan; he had only been here half an hour and he _hated_ it. He hated these girls and all he wanted was to go back inside, to find his mummy and daddy and drive back home to Ecruteak City…

But all of a sudden, Jasper's despair vanished, and was replaced by an all-consuming wrath. A hot, tingling burn was beginning to manifest in his shoulder joint; it was stronger than it had ever been before, and, before either Jasper or the girls could understand what was happening, he lurched towards Ebony, his palm outstretched and his brown eyes cold in fury.

Almost simultaneously, Eevee vaulted from the rucksack that Jasper was still wearing on his back, and she braced herself between the boy and girl, preventing Jasper from doing something terrible. Eevee had never felt the darkness so keenly, nor had it ever shown itself so quickly or so potently. It took everything Eevee had to push it back, and she was panting when, only seconds later, the smoky tendrils around Jasper vanished.

Ebony and Scarlett did not appear to notice what had almost occurred, so shocked were they by the appearance of the Pokémon.

"An Eevee!" Scarlett gasped, "Is this _your_ Pokémon?"

Jasper was still in shock at what had just occurred, but he tried not to let it show. Raichu had told him that people should not know of his powers until he could control them – he had thought he could now – but he obviously wasn't there yet. Composing himself, he managed to answer.

"Yes, she's my Eevee."

Jasper saw that Ebony's indigo eyes narrowed, and he knew that he had something to work with. His cousin seemed, against her will, impressed.

"You have your _own_ Pokémon?" she asked.

"Yes," Jasper confirmed.

"It's not your mummy's or daddy's?" Scarlett added.

"No – Eevee's mine."

"How old are you?"

"I'm five," he said defiantly.

Scarlett and Ebony put their heads together and began to whisper. After a few seconds they turned to their cousin, identical grins upon their faces.

"Come on," Ebony said, and she began to make her way to the edge of the courtyard.

"Where're you going?" Jasper asked, confused.

"We're _all_ going somewhere _secret_ ," she replied, her indigo eyes alight with mischief.

"Where?" Jasper asked again.

"Somewhere we're not allowed to go," Scarlett giggled as she followed her sister.

Jasper felt his blood run cold – why were they deliberately doing something they weren't allowed to do? Wouldn't their mummy and daddy be mad?

"Aren't you coming?" Ebony asked, as she turned back to the golden haired boy.

Jasper shook his head slowly.

"I _knew_ you weren't a real Dragon Tamer," she said smugly, crossing her arms over her chest, "real Dragon Tamers are _brave_."

 _Brave_. Jasper wanted nothing more than to be brave – to be a hero – just like his daddy. He would show them – he was just as good as they were.

"Come on then," Scarlett said, seeing from the look on Jasper's face that he had been convinced after all.

Ebony had walked over to the far side of the courtyard, where the high walls were lined by shrubbery bushes. The black-haired girl crouched down and wiggled through the bush…and seemed to disappear.

"Follow me, okay?" Scarlett said, as she too crouched down into the bush and followed her sister. Jasper was bewildered; where could they have gone? But as soon as Scarlett's feet were no longer visible poking out of the bush, Jasper bent down onto his knees and, squinting so that the leaves couldn't poke him in the eye, he peered through the greenery. There was a sizable gap in the bottommost row of bricks, where one had been removed. He shoved his rucksack, containing Eevee, through first, before he belly-crawled through the gap himself. Jasper saw that the missing brick was on the other side of the wall, and as soon as he had scrambled through, Ebony heaved at the brick, replacing it neatly into the gap in the wall.

"Where are we now?" he asked them.

"We're no longer in Dragon's Den," Ebony giggled, as she began to make her way across the rocky terrain.

"But where are we going?"

"Somewhere that you can't go unless you have a Pokémon," Scarlett told him.

Jasper deliberated. His curiosity, and his desire to prove himself, meant that he desperately wanted to follow his cousins, but all he could think of was his mummy and daddy. He knew, deep down, that they would not want him to wander off like this, especially if they were going somewhere dangerous.

"Come on!" Ebony said, and irritation flashed through her indigo eyes when she saw that Jasper was still undecided.

"Is it dangerous to go to this place without a Pokémon?" he asked.

" _Yes_ , which is why we need you," Ebony smirked.

Jasper felt a thrill of excitement. They were going somewhere _dangerous_ – if something bad happened, maybe he could save his cousins – he could be a _hero_.

His mind made up, he donned his rucksack, and followed the girls across the boulder-strewn pass.

-o-

Morty watched Lance warily. Why had he taken him to a separate room? What could he possibly want to talk to him about that was so private?

"Is everything okay?" Morty managed, when Lance still had not spoken.

"Yes…" Lance said slowly, "I just wanted to clear some things up with you."

"Like what?" Morty said. His throat felt very dry; there was something in the Dragon Tamer's eyes that he couldn't quite read.

"Well," Lance began, leaning back in his chair and surveying Morty from across his desk, the dark eyes boring into the violet, "I first wanted to see if there was anything _you_ wanted to talk to _me_ about?"

Morty knew that Rose would kill him for not taking this opportunity to talk to Lance, for he had been waiting for one, but he just couldn't – not now; he couldn't ask about a promotional test, not when something potentially serious was going on.

"N-no, nothing," Morty stammered as he twisted his hands in his lap. Hell he hated this! Why couldn't Lance just get whatever it was over with?!

Lance looked disbelieving, but he gave a small smile.

"All right…I'll start off then."

Morty gave a curt nod.

"I've noticed that the distribution of Fog Badges this last year has been…odd."

Morty's heart began to hammer hard in his chest, and he could feel the blood rush up to his face.

"Odd…how?" he managed.

"Before you moved to Sesame, I felt that the manner in which the Fog Badges were won from you was more…random?"

"Random?"

"Yes," Lance agreed, now leaning forwards in his chair, "one month you might bestow none, and then the next month you might give away as many as four or five…there was no pattern, nothing that…caught my attention."

Morty gulped.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but as Champion, it's my job to pick up on this sort of thing…since you and Rose moved back here, to Johto, I can't help but notice that the amount of badges you give away seems much more… _regimented_ somehow."

Morty closed his eyes in horror.

"You've been giving away one Fog Badge a week for almost a year."

Morty opened his eyes, and shot a nervous glance at the Champion. But Lance did not look annoyed; instead he looked curious…and amused?

"Is it a coincidence?" Lance asked, his dark eyes glittering.

Morty could not see the use in denying it; he knew that Lance knew, and he was annoyed with himself for being so stupidly blatant about it. Now he was sure to lose his position; it was against the League rules to give badges away when they weren't properly won.

"It's not a coincidence…no," Morty said hollowly.

"So…the badges weren't won?"

"They were _won_ …"

"Were they won honestly?"

The violet eyes met the dark, cat-shaped ones, and Morty sighed. Great – who knows what trouble he'd now landed himself in – dishonesty was severely frowned upon in the League.

"No."

"So why did you give them away?" Lance leaned further forward still. He was genuinely interested in the reason. Morty had always been a very fair Gym Leader, and he was curious as to what had changed.

"I…oh God it sounds so stupid…" Morty squirmed in his chair.

"They can't beat you, can they?" Lance asked quietly.

Morty looked up once again, but Lance's eyes were still bright, still amused.

Lance could see the truth plainly on Morty's face, and he wasn't in the least bit surprised. Morty had been a Gym Leader for ten years roughly. Was it really surprising that, during this time, his skill had developed such that his challengers found him impossible to beat? The League rules still stated that the level of Pokémon used against challengers had to directly correspond with the number of badges they had, but Lance, and Morty, knew that Pokémon levels weren't everything. In fact, when Pokémon were evenly matched in terms of level, victory rested on two factors: either type advantage, or the skill and experience of the trainer. Morty had both skill and experience in abundance.

"Did you know," Lance asked suddenly when he realised that Morty was not going to respond, "that Will's leaving Johto and the Elite Four?"

Morty's head snapped up quickly.

"I-is he?"

"Yes," Lance replied conversationally, "he's gone off to do a spot of travelling, before returning home."

"Home?"

"To Sinnoh."

Morty did not want to believe it, he did not want to raise his hopes – but where else could Lance possibly be going with this?

"There's nothing sadder," Lance continued, "than a highly skilled Pokémon trainer who becomes…jaded."

"I agree," Morty said with the ghost of a smile. Gone were the days when he looked forward to a Gym match; most of the time he now had to struggle to keep himself awake.

"I think you know where I'm going with this," Lance grinned.

Morty began to chew on his bottom lip. He felt a warmth spread right through him; he was nervous, excited, humbled…

"Are…are you sure?"

"I've never been surer about anything," Lance grinned, before standing up and offering Morty his gloved hand to shake, "welcome to the Elite Four, my friend."

 **AN: Just one more childhood chapter after this and then we'll see a considerable skip forward in time. Would love you hear all your thoughts! (I'm aiming this at all the cheeky little readers who don't review ;)) x**


	8. Chapter 7 - Childhood Years: BTS

**Chapter 7 – Childhood Years: Beneath the Surface**

Ebony and Scarlett stopped abruptly when they reached the mouth of a cave. They turned around to face Jasper, both pairs of eyes shining with excitement.

"The Ice Path," Ebony announced proudly.

"A cave?"

"A cave full of _ice_ type Pokémon," Scarlett told him.

"Great-grandfather said that Blackthorn City grew around this area because the old Dragon Tamers used to bring their Dragons here to train them," Ebony added.

"Why?" Jasper asked.

"Because the only weakness that Dragons have is to ice…so if you expose them against ice they can learn to beat it," Scarlett informed him.

Jasper nodded slowly.

"Is it all covered in ice inside? Are _all_ the Pokémon in there ice types?"

Ebony and Scarlett glanced at one another, and their faces turned pink.

"We've never been in," Ebony muttered, embarrassed.

"…Why not?"

Ebony started to look annoyed – she clearly did not like admitting fear.

"We don't have a Pokémon…y-you can't go in without one!"

"You're scared," Jasper said triumphantly, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Am not!"

"I thought Dragon Tamers were _brave_?"

" _You_ go in then, if _you're_ so brave!" Scarlett scoffed.

Jasper shrugged. He wasn't scared of wild Pokémon; he had been in the Burnt Tower with his daddy many times, and most of the wild Pokémon there were _ghosts_ – surely ghosts were a _lot_ scarier than ice Pokémon – if you didn't understand them of course.

Ebony and Scarlett watched open-mouthed as their cousin stepped fearlessly across the threshold of the cave. They were really very impressed against their will. Ebony felt her respect for Jasper rise several notches – but she still thought he was weird.

Jasper could see nothing interesting about the Ice Path – it was very cold, but there was no ice as far as he could see. He wandered further in by a few metres, and the path turned sharply to the left. He gasped aloud as he rounded the corner.

"What? What is it?" Ebony called from the mouth of the cave. Neither she nor her twin had yet dared to venture in.

Jasper did not answer, but he took more steps into the cave, and vanished from the girls' sight.

"Jasper?" Scarlett called, her voice rather higher than usual as she gripped tightly at her sister's hand. But Jasper did not answer.

"Can you hear me?" Ebony called next, her indigo eyes wide with fright. What would happen if he never came back? Their mummy and daddy would know that they sneaked out of Dragon's Den…and they would be in _terrible_ trouble for losing their cousin…

"Yes…I can hear you," came his voice. It was slightly muted now because of the thick stone between them, but his tone of wonderment aroused their curiosity. Fears all but forgotten, Ebony and Scarlett followed Jasper into the cave, and they, too, gasped when they saw what lay just around the corner.

An enormous cavern comprised entirely of ice spread out before their eyes. The thickness of the ice was such that it hardly looked white – more of an aqua blue-green. Their breath rose in spirals before them as, slack-jawed, they gazed out over the winding, slippery path that twisted and turned throughout the cavern. The drop from the path downwards was so steep and so dark that it caused the hairs to rise and tingle unpleasantly on the backs of three, small necks.

Stalactites and stalagmites of pure ice descended from the roof of the cavern and rose menacingly from the treacherous ground. The entire place exuded an air of mystique and danger, only emphasised by the complete stillness and silence all around them. There was, however, no sign of any wild Pokémon, and so Jasper took another tentative step into the cavern of ice.

"Be careful!" Scarlett called. Despite the openness and emptiness of the space, her voice did not echo. It was as though the very ice itself was hushing them, determined to keep its whereabouts a secret.

"It's fine," Jasper whispered, his brown eyes wide in awe, "the floor's not that slippery."

It was true. Most of the shining ice floor had a light covering of powdery snow upon it, and Jasper's boots crunched reassuringly against it.

Scarlett was more concerned about the fathomless drop from the narrow icy path, but her voice did not seem to be working. She and her twin clutched at each other, but did not dare to step any further onto the path. Jasper's daring nerve took them aback, but it scared them too.

"I-I think you should come back now," Ebony said quietly; she was gripping onto Scarlett's hand very tightly; her fingernails left crescent-shaped grooves in her sister's skin. But still Jasper moved further inside - further along the path.

Scarlett squealed shrilly as Jasper leaned over the edge to take a good look over the precipice – but he did not hear her.

 _That's very far down._

Jasper would have started, for the voice was not his own, but he didn't. He had almost been expecting it. It wasn't him…but it was a part of him somehow.

 _They were rude about your mummy. You could really scare them you know._

Jasper turned and looked back at his cousins. They were both wide-eyed with fright, seemingly frozen to the spot.

"Come on," he heard himself tell them, and he felt his face mould into a reassuring smile, "it's not scary, it's _amazing_!"

Ebony chewed on her lower lip, trying to make up her mind. Jasper seemed fine; he was right, the path didn't look slippery at all. She loosened her grip on Scarlett's hand, and took a tentative step forwards.

"Don't do it, Bonnie," Scarlett said suddenly. Something was not right – she could feel it. She looked over at Jasper, and experienced a chill that ran down her spine, "don't follow him!"

"No, it's fine," Jasper said with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, "look!"

He spun freely on the spot and, sure enough, he did not lose his footing. Ebony took another step towards him, more confidently now.

 _Just another couple of steps and you'll be able to reach her. You can send her spiralling down, down, down…_

"See? It's fun," Jasper grinned, his brown eyes glinting strangely.

"Bonnie, please," Scarlett said, her voice cracking. She could feel the sweat beginning to bead her forehead.

Ebony had already taken yet another step forwards, but her sister's tone alarmed her. She turned back to face Scarlett, but then many things seemed to happen at once. She felt herself lurch sideways towards the path edge, and she felt a searing pain on her upper arm; screaming, she wrenched her arm from Jasper's grasp, before falling backwards onto the path. Scarlett grabbed hold of her sister, crying hysterically, and pulled her back away from the precipice. Eevee burst forth out of Jasper's rucksack and stood facing her owner, her hackles raised for the first time ever.

Jasper frowned slightly. What was going on? Why was Eevee growling at him like that? Why were his cousins cowering on the floor? What had happened?

Eevee stopped growling when she realised that Jasper was glowing with a soft outline of pale golden light – his usual aura. Where, then, was the darkness that she had sensed? The darkness that she was sure had completely possessed the child at that very moment?

Jasper only looked very confused.

"It's okay, Ebony," he said, as his cousin continued to whimper and moan, "y-you didn't fall."

That was it; he remembered now. He said seen his cousin's foot slip as she came towards him, and so he had reached out and grabbed her arm, preventing her from falling off the edge of the path.

Scarlett was staring at Jasper with wide, grey eyes. She had never been so scared…or so confused. She could not be sure what she had seen – it had happened so quickly. In the space of a second she had been convinced that she had seen Jasper both shove her twin towards the edge of the path, but she could also have sworn that he pulled her to safety…she blinked and shook her head, unable to make any sense of it. But Ebony was fine, she was safe, she had not fallen…and so Jasper _must_ have saved her.

Eevee was still breathing heavily, and she did not take her eyes from Jasper. She didn't know what was going on, but she didn't like this place – they needed to get out of here. Something about being here was making the dark force stronger somehow, and more volatile. She had seen Jasper grab the girl's arm, and she could sense what he had been trying to do…no, what that _darkness_ had been trying to do. Had Jasper not come back to himself so rapidly, Eevee knew that Ebony's remains would be spattered on the floor of the cave far, far below them. The little Pokémon shuddered.

"I think we should go back to Dragon's Den," Jasper said shakily. He didn't feel very well.

Scarlett nodded and, with difficulty, raised her sister to her feet.

"W-we can't tell any of the grown-ups where we were though…okay?" she said.

Jasper gave a jerky nod in agreement. Ebony still seemed unable to speak. She rubbed at her upper arm where it still smarted. The pain was easing off now, but it still felt like it had been burnt…however she was too shaken by her near-fall to think on it too much. By the time they had wriggled back through the wall and into the sculpture courtyard of Dragon's Den, the pain had vanished completely, and Ebony forgot all about it in the light of her other terror.

-o-

Now that the three of them shared a secret, they felt it safer to avoid each other lest the adults begin to suspect anything. Jasper spent most of the rest of day following Rose like a shadow. He still felt a little bit odd after their adventure in the Ice Path, and all that he knew was that he felt better when he was beside his mummy.

But the rest of the day passed pleasantly upon their return. All of the Dragon Clan family seemed very interested by Jasper, and he spent the afternoon and evening talking to them all, especially his great-grandfather, telling them about his favourite Pokémon and his favourite foods and what their house was like in Ecruteak City, and that his mummy baked horrible cakes, and how he played with Raichu and Eevee nearly every day in the garden…

Xander smiled indulgently at the blond boy. He was very intelligent, and very polite. He had been concerned when he learnt that Rose was to become a mother at eighteen, but he couldn't deny that she and Morty had done a splendid job in raising their son – so far. He was so inquisitive, but never to the point of rudeness and, strangely for a child, he had an incredible attention span – particularly when they told stories about the Dragon Tamers of old.

Xander's prejudices had mellowed with age, but he still found himself wishing that Jasper had more of the Dragon Tamers in him. He was such a wonderful addition to the family, but there was a definite 'Ecruteakness' to him that the old man found slightly jarring. Xander was very fond of Morty, of course, he had known him since he was Jasper's own age – but he had never expected that the Ecruteak line would merge with the Blackthorn one – it was unnatural somehow. The more he thought about it, the more he decided that Jasper should have more to do with his Blackthorn family. He wondered how best to broach the subject…

The atmosphere of the central chamber in Dragon's Den was comfortable and peaceful. Dinner had finished and the family congregated together, sat comfortably in leather armchairs and on leather sofas by the roaring blue fire, drinking either hot tea or whiskey – depending on age and preference.

Jasper was curled up against Rose, and his brown eyes drooped sleepily as she gently stroked his golden blond hair. He was so warm and snug here by the funny blue fire, with his mummy's arm wrapped around him. He gave a great yawn and snuggled down further, his breathing becoming heavy with sleep. Rose and Morty smiled at one another as their son gave a sleepy, contented sigh.

"Rose, Morty…I've been thinking," Xander began suddenly, setting his whiskey glass down on the small granite table top beside his claw-footed armchair.

"Yes grandfather?"

"Jasper seems to enjoy it here…and he _does_ have Dragon Tamer blood after all…perhaps it would do him some good to step away from Ecruteak sometimes, to experience the other half of his heritage?" After all, if the boy were to be a potential match for Ebony or Scarlett, he would have to adopt their traditions and not keep on with this Ecruteak nonsense.

Morty frowned slightly at the implication, but he didn't feel as though it was his place to speak up. He needn't have worried; Rose's brown eyes had narrowed considerably.

"What do you mean, 'step away from Ecruteak'?" she said, "It's his home."

Her tone was polite, but Morty could feel her shoulders stiffen next to him.

"Well the child seems very well-grounded in the Ecruteak tradition," the Elder said with a tight smile: Jasper had been talking a lot about Ho-Oh and the three eeveelutions that had been resurrected in the great fire, "perhaps he would do well to become as well-versed in the traditions of Blackthorn?"

The room fell silent.

"Do you have any objection to Jasper's upbringing?" Rose asked, one eyebrow raised. It was clear that she couldn't give a damn what her grandfather thought either way. The tone of her voice had dropped by several degrees, and the atmosphere in the room changed suddenly. Rose glanced down at her son, but he was still asleep.

"No, of course I haven't," Xander returned, alarmed by his granddaughter's abrupt displeasure, "I just think it's a shame…that's all…"

"What's a shame?" Rose continued doggedly. She did not drop her gaze from the Elder's face, and her irritation grew when she realised he would not look her in the eye.

"Jasper…he's…he's just so bright, so clever…it's a shame that, well –"

"It's a shame I'm his father," Morty supplied quietly. He had seen the way the old man had been watching his son – almost hungrily. Xander was a traditionalist, and he wanted a male heir primarily to carry on their line.

The room rang with silence, and the Elder's mouth fell open stupidly. However, as his pale face began to flush blotchily, Morty knew that he was right.

"Now Morty," Clair said in alarm, trying to rectify the situation, "he doesn't mean it like that."

"Of course I don't!" Xander spluttered, but the whiskey was making it hard for him to put his idea across subtly, "you're a wonderful father! I was only thinking that it would be better for Jasper to spend some time here…perhaps a couple of months in the spring? It might make him less…less –"

"Less Ecrutetian," Rose supplied coldly. She couldn't believe she was sat here listening to this. She too had seen the way that Xander had been watching her son. She could tell that he wished to have more influence over the child. The Elder had found it difficult to hide his displeasure when he found out that Jasper had an Eevee, a Pokémon so deeply connected with Ecruteak history…he wanted Jasper to stay with him so that he could have another Dragon Tamer heir to teach…a male one like Lance…

For the first time, Rose felt a rush of understanding towards her father, Fernando. He had been raised in this city, under the stifling influence of Blackthorn tradition. It must have been incredibly difficult for him to deviate as he had, to go against his father's wishes and do his own thing. Rose could not blame him for having run away.

And Rose was most definitely Fernando's daughter. She had no qualms about standing up to the Elder, against breaking tradition. There was no way she was going to leave her son in this stifling fortress – ever. Rose loved Clair and Lance dearly, but they could not understand. They had been raised this way too, and she knew, she could see it in their eyes, in Clair's laughing at Jasper's Eevee, that they too were slightly unnerved by Morty and Rose's relationship; Ecruteak City and Blackthorn City always had been, and still were to an extent, rivals, and those who had been moulded by those traditions could not see past that ideology. Rose had had enough. They didn't have to deal with this – any of it. She refused to sit there, amongst her 'family', and listen to her grandfather belittle her husband. It was pathetic – and she found herself thinking that they were _all_ pathetic – for nobody spoke out against the Elder – nobody except her.

"I'm afraid we're not interested," she said through gritted teeth as she stood up from the sofa. Her brown eyes were blazing, and Xander felt himself shrink back a little. She was so like Fernando in her mannerisms that it stunned him to silence.

Jasper began to wake when he realised his mother was no longer by his side, but she lifted him gently into her arms and whispered soothingly into his ear. With one final, contemptuous look at her grandfather, she left the room. Morty also stood up, and glanced around the room at the sea of faces there – some shocked, some ashamed. He wasn't offended, as such, for he was well-aware of the rivalries held between Ecruteak and Blackthorn, and he was aware of their opinions deep down, but he was upset for Rose's sake.

"She was really looking forward to coming here," he said quietly to the room at large, "and I would have appreciated it if you could have just overlooked my bloodline for one night."

He gave a half smile, before shaking his head sadly, and following Rose towards their bedroom.

-o-

He entered the bedroom that had been prepared for them, and saw that Rose had tucked Jasper into their own bed. He could not blame her; the thought of ever leaving his son here made him feel strangely ill, and he too wanted the child as close as possible.

"I'm so sorry," Rose said, as she looked him straight in the eye.

"You have no reason to be apologising to me," he said quietly.

"I'm…I'm just -" she closed her eyes tightly, and smashed her fist into her forehead, "I can't believe he –"

Morty closed the space between them, and wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't bother yourself about it," he whispered into her hair, "I couldn't care less…"

But Rose continued to snarl.

"How _dare_ he, though? How dare he make out like…like Jasper's _tainted_ because of you!"

"Shh," Morty soothed, "he's just a stupid, prejudiced old man…he doesn't know a thing…"

Rose took Morty's face in her hands and stared into his eyes earnestly, "You're the best person I know," she said, her lower lip trembling, "I can't bear that –"

"Please, forget it," Morty said as he kissed her softly, " _you_ forget that I grew up with all this rubbish – I knew he felt this way about us – and I couldn't care _less_."

But the turmoil continued to rage inside her. Why had none of the rest of her family spoken up? Did they all agree? Could they all be so blinded by their own stupid traditions? Even Clair and Lance had stayed silent…Rose couldn't bear it.

Morty gazed down into her fierce brown eyes, and felt his heart swell with love for her. He knew that all she had wanted was to spend time with her family – to get to know them properly, but they had let her down, just like so many others had. But still she remained unbroken, still she would not abandon what she knew to be right – and for these reasons he could never resist her. Crashing his lips on hers, he ran his hands through her long, curly hair, and tried to show her physically how much he cared, and just how much her unwavering defence of him meant.

-o-

The furious Chaos Pokémon pulsed relentlessly against its prison. He longed to escape, for surrounding him was an impenetrable wall of soft, blinding, choking light. The brightness was unbearable – suffocating - but as hard as the Pokémon raged, he could not fight it. This had been the case for many years now. The child was constantly surrounded by those filled with light; it was enough of a battle for the Chaos Pokémon to make his presence known in a child so full of the force himself…but to be overwhelmed by it from all directions too…from his parents, and now that dratted Eevee…

Zyrir realised that night that he was physically unable to escape from the confines of Jasper's body. When Pascalia had been beaten, the Draco Silicis – the Chaos Pokémon's own petrified soul – had been destroyed. Being immortal, Zyrir was unable to die, but without his own soul, he could not exist unless he shared a soul with another – he had not realised that this fusion was irreversible. As Jasper himself was not immortal, Zyrir knew that this imprisonment would not be eternal, for as soon as Jasper's body decayed or was demolished by flame, his soul would leave his body and therefore the Chaos Pokémon too could be free. But until that time came, Zyrir was very much trapped, relying on the child as the vessel through which he could manifest his power.

And yet due to the damned light that always surrounded him, Zyrir was finding the battle exhausting. Every time he managed to gain the upper hand, Jasper's pure, light spirit would surge forth, and all of the malevolent Pokémon's efforts would be extinguished. Jasper could still feel guilt, could still feel sadness and remorse, and because of that, he was near impossible to control. Having lost his own soul, the Chaos Pokémon had reverted to sharing not only Jasper's soul, but his power level too. Until the child grew up a little, and stopped being so dependent on his light-blessed parents, there was not much that Zyrir was able to do. But when Jasper grew, so too would Zyrir – and then things could truly begin. It was too difficult, in this small boy, to resist the constant forces of light that surrounded him, and so he must be patient, lie dormant for a while. But he could wait, for he knew the reward for waiting was to be glorious.

Nestled between his parents, Jasper slept soundly on, oblivious to both the family feud, and the savage desperation of the beast within his soul.

 **AN: This was the last of the 'childhood' chapters. Thank you to those who have stuck with this so far – I hope you're enjoying it (:**

 **P.S Zyrir is the Chaos Pokémon's true name.**

 **A xx**


	9. Chapter 8 - Decisions

Rose's mouthful of porridge paused halfway on its way to her mouth. She frowned slightly at the image of the man on the morning news, and strained her ears to hear the report more clearly.

" _No_!" Morty laughed, covering his face with his hands and admitting defeat. He and Jasper were having a competition; Morty bet his son that he wouldn't be able to open the jam jar that he had screwed as tightly shut as he could. Jasper had bet his father that he could.

"Will you two be quiet?!" Rose said, rounding on them, "I'm trying to listen!"

But the man and the teenager continued to laugh and joke. Because Jasper had won, it meant that Morty had to undergo a forfeit. Today that meant that Jasper had one chance to fling a spoonful of jam into his father's face.

"Just get it over with!" Morty insisted, his violet eyes screwed shut as he waited for the unpleasant sensation that he knew was to come.

"You two are _ridiculous_!" Rose snapped, but she couldn't prevent the corners of her lips twitching as she turned back towards the television.

But then Morty, too, seemed to recognise the man on the news, and he barely noticed when the spoonful of strawberry jam squelched against his cheek. Raising his hand to his face, he grabbed the worst of the blob and wiped it in his napkin, his eyes never once leaving the television screen.

Jasper's upper lip curled in disappointment – this was the best forfeit yet, and his dad barely seemed to take any notice! Reluctantly, the fifteen year old also turned his attention to the news report. But he had no idea who the greying man was, and so he too began to listen.

"…come to light that the leading Consultant in Pokémon Medicine, Horatio Wood, has been discredited, and is no longer permitted to practise. Wood has been found guilty of conducting illegal experiments on Pokémon, and will be sentenced to at least five years imprisonment, will be stripped of his consultancy, and…"

"Oh my God," Rose breathed, her porridge forgotten.

"I wonder what he did," Morty frowned, "they haven't gone into much detail…"

But the newsreader continued: "Wood is refusing to clarify whether a monetary exchange was involved with his 'client', fuelling the speculations that he undertook this highly risky endeavour in order to continue to afford his own drug habit."

"Who is this guy?" Jasper asked; Morty and Rose were both stunned into silence – for they knew that the rumours of the former doctor's drug addiction were very likely to be true.

"He trained me," Rose said hollowly.

"No way!"

"Yes…" she said as though in a daze, "I wonder what on _earth_ experiment he was playing around with…he's a brilliant doctor…"

"Whatever it was it must have been pretty sick to have him struck off the register," Morty said grimly. He couldn't even bear thinking about what the man might have done to who knows how many helpless Pokémon…

"Right…well then," Rose said, shaking her head as she tried to come to terms with the news, "this wasn't exactly the opening I'd been looking for Jasper, but I think it's time we had a conversation about what you want to do."

Jasper looked up to see both his parents watching him with interest.

"…Do?"

"Yes," Morty said, "what you want to do in life - as a career."

Jasper was stumped. He had never really had any great desire to do any one thing in particular, and now with his parents smiling encouragingly at him, he found that he had no idea what to say.

"You're well connected for both medicine and Pokémon training," Rose said, "this is why I bring this up now…if you were interested I was going to ask Dr Wood if you could intern with him in Sesame…but I suppose that's now out of the window…"

"Medicine? _Me_?"

"I know you're plenty clever enough," Rose said with a wry grin, "but I would advise you not to embark on it unless you have a real desire to do so – the training can be gruelling," she said lightly.

"I-I don't think I want to –"

"And then if you're interested in taking your Pokémon training further, I'd be only too happy to help you, as you know," Morty smiled, "I know Ecruteak Gym currently has a Leader, but if we intensify your training now, I see no reason why you couldn't be next in line."

"Dad –"

"But of course these aren't your only options!" Rose laughed, "It's just we're both connected in these fields, so should you decide on either one we can easily help you."

Jasper was silent. He could see the excitement shining in his parents' eyes, and he didn't want to disappoint them, but he truly had no idea.

"I haven't really thought about it," he mumbled, feeling his ears turn red.

"Well you're only fifteen," Rose chuckled, "but if you don't have any idea now, I'd say it's a good time to start considering your options."

She smiled into his eyes, the exact same colour and shape as hers, before she ruffled his dark blond hair playfully.

-o-

Father and son made their way to Ecruteak Gym, as they did every afternoon on the weekends. Having been the previous Leader, Morty had permission to use the Gym for personal training whenever it was officially closed.

As they walked through the ancient, familiar city, Morty could see that Jasper had something on his mind, and decided to try a little fatherly probing.

"What's up Jas?"

"Hm?" Jasper looked across at his father, to see him scrutinising him through violet eyes, "Nothing's up."

"So you definitely don't think you want to do medicine?"

Jasper shook his head, and gave a half smile.

"Definitely not – that's one thing I _am_ certain of," he laughed.

Morty laughed too, "Your Ma's right with that one – don't even think about it unless you're committed – the training alone is enough to drive anyone mad."

Jasper nodded, but again fell into a pensive silence, his brown eyes brooding.

"Come on Jas, you can tell me," Morty said quietly. They had reached the Gym now, and Morty unlocked the side door with his spare set of keys. Jasper remained silent as they made their way through to the battlefield, and still Morty did not press him. He knew his son, and he knew that when Jasper felt ready to talk he would.

But Jasper did not have the faintest clue how to put into words the thoughts that were whirling around his mind; at least not without upsetting his father or angering him – or both. It had been ten years now since he had had the conversation with his grandmother, on the night of the Festival of Firelight - the conversation that he had never forgotten. Despite the number of books Jasper had pursued, the amount documentaries he had watched or newspaper clippings he found, he could never get the story he wanted, and he ached for it.

"Dad?" he said quietly, wondering where on earth he was finding the composure to do this.

"Yes?"

"I-I want to do something like _you_ did."

Morty frowned at Jasper's tone. Somehow, he knew that his son wasn't talking about becoming a Gym Leader, or even a member of the Elite Four. A chill ran down Morty's back as he remembered what Jasper had been told many years ago by Isadora, his own mother. He had just about forgotten until now, but it would appear that his son hadn't.

"What do you mean?" Morty asked; his mouth had become so dry that his voice creaked slightly. He still hoped against hope that his suspicions were wrong.

Jasper's wet his lips nervously with his tongue, and he ran his hand through his dark blond hair anxiously.

"I wish…I wish I could do something that would make me a 'hero'," he mumbled to his feet.

His lightly tanned face began to flush – he aware of how stupid he must sound. But his father's expression was the last thing he could have expected. Morty's violet eyes were glassy with tears and he gazed into Jasper's young face, his clear anguish making him seem so much older than his thirty-seven years.

"Jasper…come and sit with me a moment."

Feeling leaden with shock, Jasper followed Morty to the side of the Gym's battlefield, where they sat together on the spectator bench. It took a while for Morty to gather his thoughts, but Jasper remained silent, allowing his father the time to adjust to his shocking statement.

"I…I assume you're referring to the conversation you had with your grandmother many years ago?" Morty finally asked.

Jasper nodded; he was scared – he had never known his father to act this way. It was as though Morty himself was frightened, but he composed himself and turned to his son, accepting that perhaps now was the time.

"I don't suppose you remember, for you were only, what?…Five years old?"

Jasper nodded once more.

"Five years old," Morty continued, his violet eyes far away, " _terrified_ at the thought of Chaos, which is perfectly understandable, and then…then my mother informed you that _your_ mother and I had, in fact, largely contributed to the downfall of that hideous monster. I was… furious with her. I don't think I spoke to her for weeks – we never wanted you to feel frightened by it, you see."

Jasper did not know what to say. His heart was pounding in his chest as he continued to stare at his father. Morty could sense his son's fear, and the beginnings of his horror, but what scared him the most was Jasper's awe. But it was understandable that his son feel this way for, objectively, the tale was astonishing. However Morty was desperate for him to understand how horrific it had been; how he sometimes relived it in the night when he was lying awake; how still sometimes Rose came to him wide-eyed, needing to talk about it, to share her experience with the one person who knew exactly how she felt, just so that she could stop herself going mad. The last thing Morty wanted was his son, _their_ son, to think that it had been anything close to glorious.

"I know that it's the details you crave, Jasper, but I don't think you need to hear them."

Morty blanched in reaction to Jasper's face, for his disappointment was visible, but that only convinced Morty that he was doing the right thing.

"And I know you won't want to hear this, but you're young… _so_ young, and I can't be responsible for filling your head with false glory."

Jasper sighed deeply. It wasn't only morbid curiosity that drove him to wanting to hear the whole story; he wanted to understand his father better too, but he didn't like to be the cause of his father's looking so drawn and anguished.

"I…I just feel that the trouble with the concept of 'heroism', is that it's all well and good to dream of it, and to think that you can't be fulfilled without it…but Jasper – those who are labelled 'heroes' are the only ones who truly realise that the situation they're in is anything _but_ fulfilling."

Jasper looked up from his hands, to see that Morty's eyes were tight with pain as he desperately tried to make him understand his train of thought.

"Situations that make people 'heroes' tend to be horrific, really – and that's why people _are_ considered heroes I suppose – because they get through it, risking their lives, their sanity…everything. When you're the one it's happening to, I can tell you, that all you want, more than _anything_ else in the world at that moment, is for that burden to be anybody's rather than yours. W-What I'm trying to say is – is…I just don't want you to get it in your head that you _want_ an experience such as mine…because if there's one thing I pray for, it's that you can have an easier time of it than I had."

There was silence for a moment, before Jasper spoke, staring straight ahead at the opposite side of the Gym.

"I remember, ever since I was a kid, that I've wanted to be like you," he mumbled, turning red again, "and when Grandma told me that you defeated the Chaos Pokémon…well…I don't know. That's pretty amazing Dad – nobody _but_ you has ever done anything like it, and I guess…I guess I just feel like, maybe I can never truly be like you, unless I have the chance to prove myself in the same way…"

"Jasper," Morty croaked, "I didn't _prove_ myself in any way – I was chosen for that role from birth – I never had a choice! At the time my only choices were to die myself in order to give the rest of the world a chance to live, or to just allow them all to die with me – I'm not a hero Jasper – anyone would have done the same."

"I don't understand," Jasper said quietly.

"Which part don't you understand?"

"You just implied that either way you had to die…but you're not dead."

The brown eyes met the violet, and Morty felt his face drain of blood.

"Dad?" Jasper whispered, his brow furrowing.

Morty rubbed his hands over his face in frustration and defeat; he couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to let that slip.

"I never wanted you to have these details," he began quietly; his teeth were gritted and his eyes tightly closed, "but I can't very well expect you to walk away with half-information such as that…Jasper, I'm sorry."

Morty finally opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry for what I am about to tell you; neither myself nor your mother ever wished for you to need to know this…"

Morty chewed on his lower lip as he considered the mess he was now in. Jasper felt his breathing become shallow; he was absolutely terrified of what he was about to hear, but he had yearned for this information for as long as he could remember.

"I _did_ die, all those years ago, and it is only because of your mother that I am still alive at all…"

-o-

" _Please_ father!" Ebony begged.

The conversation had been going on for so long that her voice was growing hoarse and, in her desperation, her dark indigo eyes were filling with tears. Lance was equally as frustrated as his daughter, but her antics were not moving him.

"I don't know why I'm bothering to argue with you," he said sternly, "my answer, for the thousandth time, is no!"

"But -"

" _No_ , Ebony! Why can't you understand that these rules aren't mine alone?! By the League rules, you are not allowed to challenge either your mother, Morty, or myself – you _know_ this!"

"But you would all battle me honestly! I know you would! And that's what the umpires are for anyway –"

"This conversation is over as far as I'm concerned," Lance growled, his dark eyes flashing, "you can either stay here in Blackthorn City and train for the Gym Leadership, or you can travel to Hoenn to challenge their League with Scarlett and Jasper."

"But why can't I go with _just_ Scarlett? Why does _he_ have to come?!"

Lance's nostrils flared in fury.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" he spat, although he thought he knew.

Ebony rolled her eyes.

"Come _on_ father – he's _barely_ even a Dragon Tamer! I don't want to waste my time with –"

"I don't want to _ever_ hear you speak of him in that way again," Lance said coldly, "you will stay here in Blackthorn City, or you will travel to Hoenn with your sister and cousin. That's final."

"We don't need a _boy_ to protect us," Ebony said sullenly, shocked by her father's reprimand.

"That's not your decision to make."

Lance stormed from the room, his gloved hands shaking slightly. Ebony frustrated him. He was still mightily embarrassed by the scene over ten years ago, in which his and Rose's grandfather, the Elder, had slighted Morty and his Ecruteak heritage to his face. Understandably, Rose and Morty had not since been back to visit, and Lance was incredibly grateful that they were willing to allow their son to travel with his daughters – should all teenagers be willing. But Ebony's attitude, and Scarlett's to an extent, infuriated him. They had spent too long in Dragon's Den and in Blackthorn City, and their ingrained 'superiority' was grating on him. He was sure that he and Clair had never been so pig-headed. Lance continued to brood. The twins just did not know Morty as he and Clair did; to them it was unfathomable that any trainer other than a Dragon Tamer should be respected. But Morty was brilliant, he always had been, and it made Lance burn with humiliation to think that Morty and Rose's son should ever be made to feel unworthy by his own daughters. The Elder, Lance's grandfather, had died five years ago, but Lance was well aware of what he, and now Rodolfo and Cornelio, wanted. They wanted Jasper as another heir, to wed him to either Scarlett or Ebony – whichever match seemed the most likely to work. Granted, Lance's own marriage to Clair had been arranged, and they had never been anything less than happy with the arrangement, but Ebony and Scarlett's blatant elitism, and Jasper's own thorough grounding in Ecruteak tradition, caused Lance to feel that such a match would be doomed to failure.

-o-

 _Dearest Jasper,_

 _I can hardly believe you're 16 today! I remember the first time I ever saw you – you were absolutely tiny, with huge brown eyes and tufty blond hair and a red, scrawny little face! Haha! I'm sorry – I'm sure your 16 year old self is far too cool to be imagining what you looked like when you were only a few days old - but you'll always be an ugly, wrinkly little bugger to me I'm afraid._

 _I'm sorry I can't be there today, but don't go thinking I haven't remembered your birthday! Your mum and dad told me that you've recently decided to go travelling to Hoenn, so I didn't want to get you anything big or bulky that you couldn't take with you on your travels, and I'm certain your mum and dad will make sure you have everything you need. And so I thought – 'what can I get him that_ **only I** _could get him?' And so I made the decision. I've included the three obvious choices (I know what you Ecrutetians are like with your 'sacred' types!), but as you know you can have any of them should you want - it might just require you paying your stuffy old godfather a visit in Sesame!_

 _Choose wisely Jasper, because, as you know, once it's done it can't be undone! And let me know what you choose – I've been excited for this moment since you were five years old!_

 _All my love,_

 _Jay_

Jasper looked up from the letter in confusion, to see Rose and Morty beaming at him across the kitchen table.

"I don't understand," he said with a half smile, "what the hell has he got me?"

Eevee jumped up into Jasper's lap and began nibbling at the corner of his toast. Jasper absentmindedly stroked his Pokémon's head, still watching his parents with bright, curious eyes. From under the table, Morty handed Jasper a handsome, leather case. Still frowning in confusion, Jasper took the case from his father, and unhooked the brass clasp.

Inside, on a bed of crinkled purple velvet, sat three stones. One was a gleaming orange, the one in the centre was a glassy turquoise-blue, and the one on the right was a translucent green, a small thunderbolt shape indented into the smooth surface.

Jasper's brown eyes widened in surprise. He knew what these were – they were evolutionary stones. And it made sense now, his godfather was a professor of evolution – of course he would be interested in Jasper's Eevee, and what ultimate form she would take.

"What do you reckon?" Morty grinned.

Jasper frowned slightly as he gently stroked the Water Stone. He didn't know what he felt really.

"Remember what Jay said in the letter," Rose reminded him, "if you wanted one of the other four types, he would only be too happy to help you. Or I could, of course."

Rose herself had an Espeon, and was very familiar with how to manipulate Eevee's evolution due to her research work in her youth.

"I think Jay just thought you might prefer a Flareon, a Vaporeon, or a Jolteon because of their connection with Ecruteak," Morty suggested.

Still Jasper did not speak, or even look up from the case, and Morty and Rose exchanged confused glances. Eevee attempted to sniff the Fire Stone from where she was sat on Jasper's lap, and he snapped the small leather case shut hurriedly.

"I-I've never really thought about it," Jasper said honestly. He glanced down into Eevee's large eyes and gave a small smile. Eevee had been his best friend since he was five years old. He couldn't deny that the prospect of evolving her excited him, but what would happen if he regretted his choice? Like Jay had said in his letter, once done it couldn't be undone…

"You don't have to decide right this minute," Morty smiled, "have a good think; each of the 'eeveelutions' has its own advantages and disadvantages…you can always talk to your Ma and I if you need help making a decision."

Jasper smiled back at his father, but Rose and Morty could see the uncertainty in his face.

"We can think about it later," Rose said, tactfully changing the subject, "have our presents now! They're a little boring and practical I'm afraid – but you'll find them very useful come August!"

August - when Ebony and Scarlett turned sixteen themselves. Jasper didn't know whether to feel nervous or excited about his impending Pokémon journey. He didn't remember very much about his cousins, but he knew that they hadn't hit it off too well. Nevertheless, the idea of a journey came with the possibility of danger and adventure. Despite Morty's words, Jasper had not given up his dream of hoping to prove himself one day – to live up to his father's largely unknown feat - and how better to find a way to prove himself than on a Pokémon journey?

Jasper grinned as he accepted the pile of parcels from his parents.


	10. Chapter 9 - Deviation

The balmy July evening meant nothing atop Mt Pyre, and Maxie shivered as he finally reached the summit. The peak was so high that the mountain was forever surrounded by a chilling, damp mist. The unseen presence of ghost Pokémon also unnerved the leader of Team Magma – but he couldn't let that deter him – he had come this far. Still breathing heavily from his exertion, and his teeth chattering as the adrenaline coursed through his veins, Maxie made his tentative way along the path – the path that would take him to the Orbs. His hot breath left his mouth in swirling spirals, and his eyes darted restlessly left and right – but he could see nothing and hear no one. He was very much alone.

The path was longer than he had anticipated, and his nervousness lessened as impatience took over. Where were the bloody things? He didn't want to linger in this creepy, cold place. All he wanted was to grab the Orb and get the hell out. Maxie found himself wanting to run along the path, to speed up his endeavour, for the mountain top was oppressively quiet, the silence pressing uncomfortably against his ear drums. But the mist was becoming so thick that he had to squint so as not to lose his footing – there was no chance of him being able to run now.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, and the hairs on the back of the team leader's neck stood on end; the power that the Orbs exuded was palpable – he must be close.

About twenty yards away through the gloom, he thought he could make out a purplish glow that was reflected in the small pool directly in front of the dais. Increasing his speed, Maxie continued down the gravelly path. As he grew closer, the purple glow changed, and one glow separated into two; the left was red in colour and the right blue. Maxie had been almost certain that both Orbs would be present, but still he felt giddying relief to see the Red Orb next to its sister. So Archie had not yet come, and he did not yet have control over Kyogre…

It took much restraint to leave the Blue Orb untouched – for it was truly the Blue Orb that Maxie wanted, and only one could be removed from the altar. But Archie had won the battle – he apparently knew the location of Kyogre's sleeping place, and yet still Groudon's eluded Maxie. Yes…Archie had won the battle, but Maxie would prevent him from winning the war. Smiling maliciously, he lifted the Red Orb into his gloved hand, and braced himself for the howling winds that were prophesised to come when the Orbs were separated.

-o-

Rarely did Morty and Jasper's Pokémon training consist of battling. Due to Morty's specialism in ghost types, and Jasper's single (normal) type Pokémon, battling never really went anywhere, as neither side was likely to ever cause damage to the other. However, for five years now, Morty had devised drills for his son and his Eevee, and the pair had grown from strength to strength. But Morty knew that, despite Jasper's natural instinct and skill in battle, his heart was never truly in it.

"Come on Jas," Morty called across the battlefield as he pushed his headband further back on his head, "you've got to _focus_! Eevee won't be able to perform unless you're both set on the task!"

Gengar was directing his hypnotic waves in an assault course of sorts around the Gym. Eevee was practicing her jumping ability. Her and Jasper's aim was to time the jumps perfectly so that Eevee could clear the hypnotic rings without touching them – and thus falling asleep. It was a difficult task, for some rings were smaller than others, and some were far higher off the ground, but Jasper's lack of focus meant that, today, Eevee was frequently falling asleep – and Morty was running out of Awakenings.

"Sorry," Jasper sighed, as he caught the medicine that Morty threw to him, and bent to awaken the sleeping Eevee once again.

"What's the matter with you today?" his father frowned, "you've got to hone your strength of mind, you can't let _anything_ get in your way, you have to be one hundred percent focused on -"

"I _know_ dad! Okay?!" Jasper interrupted.

Morty raised his eyebrows coolly, but did not speak.

"I…I'm sorry," Jasper sighed, glancing over at his father nervously, "I'm just not feeling it today…I get a bit bored of drills."

It was true that every weekend afternoon, and two evenings in the week, father and son could be found training in the Gym and, although the drills were often varied, testing Eevee's strength, speed, and endurance, Jasper found that he was growing jaded with the whole exercise.

Morty surveyed Jasper through narrowed violet eyes. Of late, his son had been frustrating him. He was so talented as a Pokémon trainer, but Morty felt that he just never _tried_. In his own youth, Morty had trained for hours a day, determined to be the best that he could be, but then again, that had always been his dream. It would appear that it had never been Jasper's.

"What do you want to do instead?" he asked his son calmly.

The hypnotic rings faded, leaving the Gym significantly darker than before. Jasper chewed on his lower lip, and ran a hand through his untidy dark blond hair, but still he had no answer.

"Are you bored of training?" Morty asked patiently.

"No," Jasper said truthfully. He loved the hours spent with his father in the Gym.

"What is it then?"

"I wish I could battle you _properly_."

Morty sighed, but he gave a lopsided smile.

"Jas…I'd love nothing more than to battle you properly, but it's not really possible…you know that….unless you've given any more thought to your birthday present?"

Jasper looked over at his father to see that he had one eyebrow raised in interest. The truth was, Jasper had done nothing _but_ think about his birthday present, but to him Eevee was Eevee, and he couldn't picture her as any of her possible evolutions, no matter how hard he tried. There was too much choice, and he was absolutely terrified of making the wrong decision. He knew that, by making Eevee evolve, he would be able to battle his father properly, as offensive attacks would actually make contact, but even that was not enough of an incentive. He could just never make a decision.

"Or we could always go on a little excursion…and find you a second Pokémon?"

"I wouldn't know what to get, Dad, you know that."

It was true. A few times in the last five years Morty had driven his son all over Johto in the hopes of finding a new Pokémon for him to catch – but nothing ever caught Jasper's fancy.

"Well then Jasper, I don't know what else to suggest," Morty said tiredly.

"Eevee _did_ learn Bite last month," Jasper said imploringly, "and we haven't had a battle since then?"

"Very true," his father laughed good-naturedly, "but I'll be able to predict every move you're going to make," he winked.

Jasper laughed.

"Come on Dad, it's not like I'd ever be able to beat you anyway…why can't we just have a go?"

Morty scrutinised his son, before grinning.

"All right, here's a deal. I'll battle you now, Eevee verses Gengar but, if I beat you, you have to choose a new Pokémon to catch."

"But Dad!"

"Jas, in all seriousness, you're going away to Hoenn next month, and both your Ma and I would like you to have more than one Pokémon anyway…or we at the very least least would like you to evolve Eevee."

Jasper sighed heavily, but he could see his parents' logic.

"Okay…fine," he said, admitting defeat. He knew he would never be able to defeat Morty in battle, but he also knew his parents, and they would never let him leave for Hoenn unless he was a little better prepared - Pokémon party-wise anyway. This, Jasper knew, was just Morty's way of making it more fun – his dad had always been good at that.

"Excellent," Morty grinned, "come on then Gengar – let's show this little pipsqueak what we've got!"

Jasper rolled his eyes at the goading, but grinned back nonetheless. Morty's enthusiasm and excitement were infectious.

-o-

"Not bad," Morty shouted across the battlefield, and Jasper laughed. He could see by his father's face that he was impressed by the way that he and Eevee were handling themselves. Of course, Morty was not giving an all-out assault, but nor was he trying to defeat Jasper – he was trying to train him.

"You've done pretty well so far…but let's see how Eevee can handle Curse!"

Jasper cringed as his Pokémon succumbed to the attack. Morty's use of 'Curse' was quite unlike any other ghost trainer's. Usually the curse worked in rounds, the opponent Pokémon able to throw it off at least long enough to deal some damage itself, but Morty's connection with his Pokémon – especially his Gengar – was unique and, through the mind connection they shared, they were able to keep the Curse going – usually until the opponent fainted.

 _Damn it_ , Jasper thought, _I've never been able to get out of this_.

He knew he was good at Pokémon battling, he had been told so many times by many different trainers, but rarely did he have the drive to win. But he had it now. Morty's drive and competitive edge awakened Jasper's own and, although he was certain he could never beat his father, he at least wanted to hit him as hard as he could.

"Don't give up Eevee!" he yelled, his brown eyes blazing, "hang on! We both know they can't keep it up forever!"

Within the throes of the Curse, Eevee screwed her eyes tightly shut. The force of the attack was incredible, but Jasper wanted her to hang on – and so she must. She could feel the blazing light of his aura near her, and she held fast to it with her own, willing herself not to faint.

Morty was unduly impressed. It was rare for a trainer and Pokémon to last more than thirty seconds under his Gengar's Curse, and yet here was his son, his impossible-to-motivate son and his Eevee, struggling through, their minds working as one to resist the power of Gengar.

Eevee's eyes, that had been tightly shut, began to open slowly – somehow, she had learnt to deal with the pain of the Curse. Morty looked over at Jasper again – rarely had he seen his son so determined, and so focused on what he was doing. Morty worked hard to hide his smile – he himself had never been prouder, nor more excited by the development.

-o-

Eevee had never known such pain – every inch of her being was aching and screaming – but she held on. She knew that the pain was an illusion; being a normal type Pokémon, ghost type moves could not harm her – but this particular attack was not physical, it was mental, and the strength of it would surely cause her to faint if she didn't fight it. She could feel how desperately Jasper wanted her to hang on, and so she did.

Eevee loved Jasper with all her heart, and in the last few months she had been fearing for him once more. It seemed that his soul - his light, warm soul - was again under threat of being corrupted. Even Jasper himself was not aware of it, but Eevee was. She was so attuned to her trainer, so connected with the light that they shared, that she was able to detect when it was even the slightest bit off. It was worse when Jasper was alone. In the presence of his parents, the whispers of darkness seemed to shrivel and die – no, not die, Eevee wasn't sure it was _able_ to die – but Morty and Rose's presence seemed to stop it in its tracks. Eevee didn't know what she could do to help him. When he had been a small child she had known that she could easily hold off the malevolence within him, but as Jasper grew, so too seemed to grow that darkness in his soul. She somehow felt, that if she could only withstand this Curse, that she would be able to save Jasper when the time came.

Morty, Jasper's father, so full of Firelight himself, had trained and honed his Gengar with the strength of it. The force behind Gengar's Curse, therefore, although heinously powerful, did not contain any evil or any malice at all. All of the ghost Pokémon's strength came from the mind connection that he shared with Morty – and Morty's inner strength resonated with a roaring light. It was this light, this painfully powerful force of good that Eevee was trying to resist to help Jasper. But would she be able to help him when he finally left home? It was clear that her light alone was not enough to quell the evil inside of him, but, then again, neither was his parents' light. Only together might they be able to save him…

Gengar and Morty's power was enveloping Eevee – she was choking with the strength of it, but still she held on. For Jasper. The attack, powered by the light of Jasper's father, was coursing through her and she knew that before long she wouldn't be able to fight it any longer.

It was then she realised that she could _not_ fight it…but she could use it.

-o-

Jasper frowned. Eevee, unless he was mistaken, was beginning to glow. His initial instinct was to call out, to stop her evolving, because he had not decided on an Espeon, and yet here she was, glowing in the daytime. But he stopped himself. He had been reading more on Eevees since February than he had in his whole life. Yes, Eevee evolved into Espeon during the day, but Eevee also required the sun. It was a well-established fact that Eevee could not evolve into Espeon or Umbreon unless it was outside - physically underneath the sun or the moon. But they were indoors.

Across the battlefield, Morty's frown mirrored his son's as the exact same thought process whirled through his head. He began to worry then, for he had never known a Pokémon to last so long under the Curse without fainting. Was Eevee in trouble? Was she seriously hurt? But he did not intervene. Call it intuition, but he knew that the blinding light was not harming the little fox-like Pokémon.

In silence Jasper and Morty watched, wide-eyed, as Eevee continued to glow more brightly, until none of her features could be seen clearly. Then slowly, very, very slowly, her form began to distort.

 _Keep the Curse going, Gengar._

Gengar too was aware of the phenomenon before him. He held the Curse in place, before instinctively letting it go at the appropriate time. As the Curse receded, it left a still, flatness in the previously static air. But the father and son did not notice. Eevee's morphing began to speed up, and the light blazed so intensely that Morty and Jasper automatically shielded their eyes. And then it stopped.

-o-

Jasper stared at the creature standing alone in the centre of the battlefield, and she stared back at him through almond-shaped, red-pink eyes. She was taller and leaner than Eevee had been, and her coat was a pale, silvery grey. Like Eevee, she had a ruff around her slender neck, but this ruff was a deep, velvety charcoal, and the peripheries of it seemed to fade into the surrounding air like smoke. Likewise, the tip of her lion-like, tufted tail too seemed to blend into the surrounding air, fading, ghost-like into nothingness. The same could be said of her long, tapered ears that, like Eevee's had, pointed directly upwards. Her feet were also a darker, deeper grey than her body and, when she walked towards Jasper, her movements caused the smoky tips of her ears and tail to glimmer in a rich purple that blended seamlessly with the grey.

"Eevee?" Jasper murmured, tentatively reaching out a hand to the Pokémon.

"Wraitheon," she corrected with a smile, before licking at Jasper's hand in earnest.

-o-

 _Damn! It's so cold up here!_

Archie shivered and cursed his stupidity: of course it was bound to be colder up here than at the base of the mountain, but he had had no idea exactly how _much_ colder. He pulled his denim jacket tighter around his middle but, being sleeveless, it made not one bit of difference. The undulating mist clung to the bare skin of his arms and Archie rubbed at them, but his hands themselves were so cold that the action was pointless. He began to jog along the path to keep himself warmer, but his toes were so numb that he found it difficult to keep his balance. He swallowed audibly as he recalled the sheer height of Mt Pyre, and stopped running abruptly. He did not fancy meeting his end by tumbling down its fathomless face.

Despite the unbearable cold, Archie was ecstatic, and he could barely keep the self-satisfied grin from his face. He could not wait to see the looks of awe and respect upon the faces of his grunts when he descended the mountain with the Red Orb in hand. Their dream, _his_ dream, was so close. Archie's grin widened as he considered Maxie, the land-loving fool. He couldn't deny that Team Magma's leader had fought hard but…well. Only one could win, and Maxie had just been too slow.

Kyogre was slumbering now, but not for much longer; Archie felt a pleasant tingle erupt over the skin of his back. He should take his time to appreciate this, he thought, half a lifetime's worth of effort was finally here for the taking…there was no need to rush so.

It was at a leisurely pace that Archie approached the stone dais, but his pale blue eyes narrowed when he realised that there was but one glowing Orb…and it was blue. Breathing heavily he ran the final few meters to where the raised platform lay, but there was no mistaking it. The Red Orb had gone.

-o-

Ernest and Edna jolted awake as a scream of frustration rent the usually still air. Never, in their sixty years of guarding the mountain top, had they heard anything like it.

"What can this mean?" Edna croaked, as she gripped at her husband's frail arm. Only three nights ago the Red Orb had been stolen. The old couple were at a loss as to what they could do. The Orbs should never be separated; only by keeping them together could the land beast and the sea beast exist in harmony…and nobody wanted to disturb the Dragon.

"I-I don't know," Ernest whispered as he heaved himself from the bed, and wrapped his thick black cloak around his shoulders.

Edna braced herself to join him. It was their duty as the Guardians of the Orbs to ensure no harm came to them. They had already failed, but that did not mean that they could give up.

The mountain top was the same as always; cloaked in ethereal white mist, and yet illuminated by the stars and the moon that seemed eerily close at this great height. And yet something was different: of course the purple glow emitted by the two Orbs sitting side by side was absent, but even now, the solitary blue glow shone light on the fact that things were not right up here – and never had they been more wrong.

Through the choking mist a silhouette was visible, a silhouette that raged and stormed with fury, but stopped when it sensed that other living beings were near.

"Who's there?" a gruff voice called aggressively.

"Who are you?" Ernest called, "and why have you come to this place? You are disturbing the peace…"

"Peace?" the voice laughed harshly, "interesting…tell me, if you're so insistent on keeping the 'peace' up here, then why have you hidden the fucking Red Orb?"

The stranger's breathing became ragged and, through the gloom, Ernest saw the man's hands curl into fists. He instinctively stepped in front of his wife.

"You are right, the peace has been disturbed. But neither myself nor my wife has hidden the Red Orb – we do not know where it is."

"You're lying!" the man roared, taking a step closer to the old couple.

They could see him clearly now. He was heavily built, his black hair pulled back from his face by a black bandana emblazoned with the Jolly Roger. His sleeveless denim jacket emphasised the colossal bands of muscle that were his biceps, and a thick, pale pink scar in the shape of an 'X' stood out starkly against the dark tan of his face.

 _Team Aqua_ , Ernest thought.

"I assure you I am telling the truth," Ernest said quietly.

"And please, young man," Edna continued, "please lower your voice and show respect to the Pokémon lying buried here…"

"I think it's time you two showed some respect to _me_!" the man growled, selecting a Pokéball from his belt.

"I beg you," Edna said earnestly, "do not attempt to engage in combat up here, the spirits of the Pokémon –"

"Fuck their spirits!" he interrupted rudely as he spat at the old couple's feet, "Give me the Red Orb, or things are gonna get nasty."

As he said this, he removed the Blue Orb from its rightful place, and enlarged his Pokéball.

"We will not fight you," Ernest said steadily, "we have no Pokémon of our own."

"You asked for it," the man snarled, his pale blue eyes gleaming through the mist, "Tentacruel – let's get them talking!"

The old man and old woman did not budge, and did not flinch in the face of the Pokémon, but Ernest took Edna's hand silently.

"We have nothing to tell."

The Tentacruel moved so quickly that they did not even have the time to take a breath. Before they could register what was happening, their heads were forced into the water of the Reflection Pool, their necks held down by thick, cold tentacles. It seemed that as quickly as it happened, it stopped. The Tentacruel wrenched their heads above the surface of the pool, and Edna and Ernest spluttered and gasped as the freezing night air hit their wet faces.

"Where. Is. It?" the man snarled.

"I-I've told you," Ernest croaked, "we don't have it –"

Back underwater the grey heads were plunged. Archie left them there longer this time. He wasn't leaving without the Orb.

The old couple heaved and coughed as their faces broke the water's surface once again.

" _Well_?"

"We don't have it," Edna told him her voice trembling, "it was stolen from us – three nights ago!"

"Stolen?" Archie repeated, one black eyebrow raised in disbelief, "who stole it?!"

"We do not know," Edna said as she began to sob, "but those poor Pokémon…Groudon and Kyogre…how confused they must –"

Archie saw red, and ordered Tentacruel to force the heads under the water of the pool once again. He clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw began to ache, but still he could make no sense of it. Who would steal the Red Orb? Nobody had any use for it but him! Team Magma wouldn't want it – they were only interested in the Blue Orb! And besides, Maxie was not aware of Groudon's sleeping place, Archie knew that he wasn't, for only he had discovered it…

 _Maxie._

Maxie did not know of Groudon's sleeping place, it was true, but Maxie _did_ know that Archie knew of Kyogre's…

The blood drained from Archie's face as he contemplated his stupidity. In their last encounter, only four nights ago, he had been unable to prevent himself boasting that he knew Kyogre's sleeping place…it was all so clear now. _Maxie_ had taken the Red Orb – not because he had any use for it, but because he wanted to deprive Archie of it.

With a roar of fury, Archie called off Tentacruel, but the heads did not resurface. Blinking in confusion, Archie kicked at the legs of the old man, but he did not stir. The grey heads bobbed grotesquely in the water, the faces still submerged.

Archie took a step back in shock. This had never been his intention. Eyes wide, he returned Tentacruel to its Pokéball, and began to sprint back down the gravelly path, the Blue Orb clutched tightly in his left hand.

-o-

The Orange Islands were scorching in midsummer, and Cleopatra Island was said to be the hottest of them all. A single volcano dominated the centre of the island; it was long dormant, but the top of it was often seen to be belching smoke due to the training sessions that the island's Dragon Tamers conducted there.

Cadmus had spent the better part of the morning pacing up and down his bedroom chamber, running his hands repeatedly through his black, spiky hair. He was incredibly nervous, although he knew he shouldn't be. He didn't exactly require permission to leave the island, but he wanted his great grandmother's blessing. She, Delphina, was the Elder of his Dragon Clan, and her opinion had always mattered greatly to him – as it did to all of the Dragon Clan who called Cleopatra Island their home.

Sighing heavily, he grabbed his long, lightweight cape and, ensuring it was covering his neck and shoulders, he stepped outdoors into the blaring midday sun. Despite the protection of his cape, Cadmus could still feel the sun's rays penetrating the cloth. Sweat began to bead upon his forehead and he wiped at it absentmindedly; getting overheated was a normal part of Orange Island life, and Orange Island life was all that Cadmus had ever known. Today however, was one of the hottest he could ever recall. He shielded his hazel eyes with his forearm as he made his way to the base of the volcano, puffing in relief as he reached the entrance and took shelter from the sun underneath the canvas canopy.

"Master Cadmus," the sentry nodded upon spotting the young man. He and his Shelgon moved to the side, allowing Cadmus to enter the volcano.

The cool air was an inexplicable relief after the heat wave outside, and Cadmus longed to remove his cape, but he knew that if he wished to curry favour with his great grandmother that he should leave it in place. She was very fond of tradition.

A small, dark passageway led to an open chamber and, sitting upon a roughly hewn stone throne, with her pink Dratini around her shoulders, sat Delphina: Cadmus's great grandmother and the Elder of the Orange Island Dragon Clan. She was incredibly old and frail-looking: her white hair was scarce and wispy, and her knotted brown hands were dotted with liver spots and bulbous purple veins. Nevertheless, her green eyes were alive and snapping and, with these eyes, she surveyed her great grandson shrewdly.

"Cadmus dear, to what do I owe the pleasure? I trust, from the desperation with which you tried to arrange this meeting that you aren't here for a social call alone?"

Cadmus grinned; frail though she may seem, there were no flies on Delphina. The shiny Dratini wriggled from around the old woman's shoulders and onto her lap, where it crooned as Delphina tickled its chin.

"You're right, grandmother," he said with a bow, "I have something I'd like to run past you."

Delphina sighed inwardly as she looked into his sparkling, hazel eyes. She could sense his excitement, his thirst for adventure, and, for a moment, she felt a flicker of what it was like to be young and fit again.

"Fire away," she smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.

"I would like to travel to Hoenn next month, and I would be grateful if you let me."

" _Let_ you, Cadmus? You know very well that I can't prevent you going anywhere."

"I know that, grandmother, but I would feel much happier leaving Cleopatra Island with your blessing to do so."

The old woman was quiet for a moment, and when she finally spoke, so did so hesitantly.

"Cadmus…the fact that you require my blessing tells me that…you have reservations about leaving?"

Cadmus blushed heavily through his tan. He was annoyed with himself because he _did_ have those reservations, no matter how small they might be.

"As I said before," Delphina continued, leaning forwards slightly on her seat, "I cannot stop you leaving, but I wish to impress upon you how dangerous it might be for you to venture away from Cleopatra Island."

Cadmus said nothing, but he held his great-grandmother's gaze.

"Need I remind you what leaving this island has meant for some of us?"

Still Cadmus did not respond. He knew the stories, and he knew he was about to hear them again.

"My poor sister, Magdelena," Delphina said heavily, her green eyes distant, "she left this Island at the tender age of nineteen. She was happy to leave, to see somewhere new, for Blackthorn City is very different to Cleopatra Island…and she was happy, with her red-haired husband, who gave her three sons, but you know what befell her in the end."

Cadmus looked down at his boots. This story made him feel rather ill.

"The _Draco Silicis_ ," Delphina whispered, "consumed her fully, and took her life when she was but thirty-eight years old. And my son, your uncle, Drake, do you remember what happened to _him_ upon leaving Cleopatra Island?"

Cadmus looked up, but he neither nodded nor shook his head.

"Oh, he did well for a few years. He became the captain of a great ship, and wished to sail all over the world in an attempt to discover more Dragon Pokémon…but his ship became the plaything of a great storm and, had his Shelgon not evolved to save him, his corpse would be rotting on the ocean floor."

Cadmus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he tried hard not to imagine it.

"The only two of us to leave the island in the last century…such horrible, horrible stories. And I do not wish to frighten you, Cadmus, but I beg you not to overlook the events of seventeen years ago. I realise that, to you, this is literally a lifetime ago, but in the grand scheme of things it is very recent history. Our Blackthorn cousins were witness to it, and Chaos tried very hard indeed to reign supreme…and he almost accomplished it."

"Grandmother…I'm not asking to go to Sesame or Johto…"

"Perhaps I would rather that you were," Delphina replied quietly, "you see, it is Hoenn that I currently fear for."

Cadmus frowned, his dark brows meeting across his nose.

"Grandmother?"

"If the previous legend came true, what's to stop this one? The Orbs have been separated already…"

"But that doesn't mean anything," Cadmus said calmly, "Just because the Orbs were taken doesn't mean that the people who stole them will be able to find Kyogre and Groudon."

"You are correct, of course, but that doesn't tend to be the way of legends. Fate will have her say in this just as she did last time. And you never know: perhaps this time, like the last, something will be overlooked – perhaps the end we are anticipating may not come to light after all."

"I don't see how it can; if the last legend came true, surely this one is redundant? If Chaos was defeated, truly defeated, then surely there is no risk of him coming back?"

"I hope you are right, Cadmus," Delphina said, for once sounding as old as she looked, "and perhaps I'm growing paranoid in my old age. But you will see, when you become the Elder here, that Cleopatra had the right idea. She came here with her Dragons to dissociate herself from her family, the Blackthorn Dragon Clan, to avoid the risk of living these legends... for trouble seems to follow us, my darling. Who else has legends such as ours? And even if they have, have you ever heard of them coming true like ours seem to?"

She sighed once more, but gave Cadmus a genuine smile.

"Go on – go with my blessing. Find a new Dragon for us to marvel at, but my dear, take care, and be on the lookout for anything strange – you know precisely what Cleopatra was hoping to avoid all those years ago."

Cadmus looked at his grandmother questioningly.

"The golden demon."

 **AN: would love to hear from you as always (:**

 **A x**


	11. Chapter 10 - Out of the Comfort Zone

The Champion of Hoenn paced throughout his study, his apprehension mounting with each step taken. His feelings changed along with each change of direction: on the one hand he felt irritation, and on the other, an anxiousness that was becoming more and more pronounced. He found himself wondering at his own naivety – all he had wanted, as long as he could remember, was to be a Pokémon Champion, but he had never truly stopped to consider everything the role entailed. Being the Champion, as he had so wrongly assumed, was not just about having a title. There were responsibilities involved; responsibilities that he was now convinced were way, _way_ out of his depth. What on _earth_ was he to say to Phoebe? He hardly knew her. Although, when he thought about it, this in itself was a serious fault in his leadership. What sort of Champion wasn't properly acquainted with his own Elite Four?

A sharp rap sounded at his study door, and the Champion felt his upper lip break out in a clammy sweat. He wiped at it automatically with his shirt sleeve, before croaking, "Come in!"

The panelled mahogany door swung open noiselessly, and the blood drained from Tripp's face as he saw exactly who was standing there alongside Phoebe. Despite not knowing Phoebe intimately, Tripp liked her well enough, but the man beside her, Drake, he neither knew well _nor_ liked, and he didn't need to know Drake any better to realise just how intensely the older man despised him. Tripp tried, with difficulty, to avoid the dark, cat-shaped eyes of the white-haired Dragon Tamer. He blanched, however, when his own eyes came to rest on Phoebe; the ghost trainer looked a mess – to put it lightly. Her tanned face had an ashen grey undertone, and her eyes were both red-rimmed and framed by dark circles. She stared at him beseechingly, and Tripp's heartrate increased significantly. This responsibility was too much; he was lost.

"Tripp," she started in a hoarse whisper.

"Phoebe – I-I-"

"Tripp, what can we _do_? Why has this _happened_?!" Phoebe's voice broke and, to Tripp's horror, her eyes began to swim with tears.

Drake placed a comforting arm around Phoebe, and he glared at the younger man before them. He had no respect for this trainer who had so readily taken up the Championship, neither knowing nor caring about the danger that Hoenn was prophesied to be in.

"Yes _Tripp_ ," Drake continued sarcastically, "please enlighten us."

Tripp licked his lips, and tried to swallow down the cold sensation that was threatening to overwhelm him. He had no idea what to do, or where to even start – and he knew that Drake knew it. Tripp cleared his throat. He was the Champion for heaven's sake – he shouldn't allow himself to be intimidated by one who technically ranked below him.

"Whoever did this terrible thing will, of course, need to be caught," he said, trying to inject authority into his voice.

He was met by silence; hopeful on Phoebe's part, and stony on Drake's. Tripp tried to swallow again, but his mouth was too dry.

"And how are you going to do that, Tripp?" the Dragon Tamer sneered, "who, do you think, is behind this dreadful crime?"

Tripp's breath came faster and faster. Even Phoebe's face had lost some of its tragic horror, and she was staring at the Champion in bewilderment.

"Y-you don't even know who _did_ it?" she asked in disbelief, her eyes narrowing and her heavy brows drawing downwards.

"It obviously needs investigating further –"

Drake interrupted him with a laugh like a roar.

" _Investigating_? Boy, I had my doubts about you, but this is something else entirely!" Drake took his arm from around Phoebe and advanced towards the Champion, "It would seem that you truly _are_ as stupid as you look…" Tripp's face burned, but he could not speak, and Drake continued, "if you had an ounce of sense, you would know _exactly_ who's behind all of this…for months I have tried to make you take Team Aqua and Team Magma seriously, but you're too ignorant for your own good – that or too cowardly, I'm still making up my mind on that one," he growled.

"What exactly is going on then?" Tripp said coldly; Drake had gone too far with his insults, and pride allowed Tripp to find his voice again, "if you're so fucking clued up, why don't you share it?"

Drake gave a half smile, and adjusted his hat so that it sat lower over his dark eyes.

"You know what's going on Tripp, I've told you many, many times before – you just refuse to believe it."

Tripp rolled his eyes.

"This _again_? Are you _serious_ Drake?!"

"Yes I'm serious!" the older man spat, his moustache fluttering with the force of his fury, "and I would have thought that _you_ , being from Sesame of all places, would understand!"

"But that's just it!" Tripp exclaimed, "I could just about get on board with Groudon and Kyogre being a threat if they're awoken – which, I might add, won't happen because there's _no proof they even exist_ , but for you to claim that the Chaos Pokémon is making a comeback – well – it's absolutely ridiculous! Unfounded! You go on about my being from Sesame – that's why I can't take this seriously – it was _in_ Sesame that Chaos was finished for good – more than seventeen years ago!"

"Why are you so certain he was 'finished', Tripp?" Phoebe asked quietly.

Tripp started; he had all but forgotten she was there.

"What do you mean 'why am I certain'? We're still here aren't we? We're _alive_!"

Drake and Phoebe exchanged a knowing look, and Tripp's fury began to rise.

"Tell me Tripp," Phoebe began again, her eyes downcast, "what makes legendary Pokémon different from ordinary ones?"

Clenching his teeth, Tripp answered her, keeping his temper in check with difficulty.

"There's only one of each legendary Pokémon," he said shortly, "they do not reproduce. I don't see why -"

"And why is this significant?" Drake probed; his tone had changed – he was no longer menacing, but expectant.

"What do you mean ' _why_ '?! It makes them the rarest Pokémon on earth – as well as being the most powerful," Tripp added.

"You speak of them in the present tense," Phoebe continued, "how can you know which are living?"

"Because legendary Pokémon are immortal!" Tripp told her in exasperation, he had no idea where they were going with this. But Drake and Phoebe had seemed to come to their point. They were both surveying Tripp with knowing eyes.

Drake gave a triumphant smirk as he saw the Champion make the connection, his blue eyes widening and his face losing all colour. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"Precisely," Drake therefore said, "Legendary Pokémon are immortal. The Chaos Pokémon may have been defeated by the Firelight, but _never_ for a moment think that he is gone for good - that he hasn't, since the moment of his defeat, been planning his return."

The Champion's quarters rang with silence.

"I think," Drake finally said into the silence, "that we have given you some food for thought. I advise that you process this information alone. Phoebe and I will return here tomorrow morning, and I hope that you will be in a better state of mind in which to work with us?"

Tripp merely nodded, his stomach sinking into his feet.

"Until tomorrow," Drake told him as he adjusted his hat once more before leaving the room.

"Have a good evening, Tripp," Phoebe said with a watery smile, gently closing the heavy doors behind her.

Tripp moved over to his desk as though in a trance, and lowered himself into his chair, his head held tiredly in his hands.

-o-

Morty's phone began to ring, and he put down his toast in surprise, before rummaging in his pocket.

"Who is it?" Rose asked curiously; it was only half past seven on a Saturday morning.

"Hang on," he said with a small frown, before he answered the call.

Rose's confusion mounted; she was certain she could hear someone crying down the phone.

"Whoa wait, slow down," Morty was saying to the person on the other side of the phone, "just calm down, I can't understand you," his eyes widened suddenly, and his voice took on a comforting tone, "hey…hey start from the beginning…nice and slowly…"

Morty left the room, his free hand over his free ear so as to hear the other person more clearly. Rose waited patiently, wondering who on earth he was speaking to. She found herself hoping it wasn't his mother, Isadora: if anything was wrong with her or Hector…Rose continued to sit at the kitchen table, her tea growing cold as her theories became worse and more gruesome. What was going on?

About fifteen minutes later Morty reappeared, looking harassed.

"What was that?" Rose asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

"It was Phoebe," Morty said gravely, "of the Hoenn Elite Four…remember?"

"Phoebe?! Is…is she okay?"

"Not really," Morty said heavily as he resumed his seat beside Rose, "her grandparents guard the…Orbs atop Mt Pyre?…and they were murdered."

"W-What?!"

"I know…she's distraught – obviously – and these 'Orbs' have apparently been taken too."

Rose sat back in her seat, thinking. She had heard of the Orbs… the concept of them being separated was ringing distant alarm bells within her.

"Were the Orbs taken by the same person then?"

"I don't think so," Morty said quietly, "Phoebe was pretty hard to make sense of…but I think one of them was taken a few days before the other – so her grandparents were on high alert for any trespassers."

"How awful," Rose sighed as the back of her neck prickled uncomfortably at the news. Morty was watching her, and she knew he was waiting for her opinion, "what're we supposed to do?" she asked him.

"I have no idea…nobody knows who took the Orbs, but the obvious guess is Team Aqua or Team Magma…or both." Rose's face became whiter, and Morty took her hand. "We're going to have to have a word with him."

"He's sixteen Morty…do you really think he'll take us seriously?!"

"I doubt it," Morty replied tightly, "but we're going to have to try…in fact, _I'll_ try – leave it to me."

"He wouldn't do anything stupid," Rose whispered, her brown eyes wide with fear. It wasn't a question, but Morty could hear her uncertainty.

"No, I don't suppose he would," Morty agreed, "But I don't think it'd hurt to give him some rules either. He doesn't know Hoenn, and he needs to know to keep his guard up."

-o-

The air was chilly in Olivine City, despite the fact that it was late August. Jasper pulled his jacket tighter around himself, and tried to tuck his chin further into his collar.

"Is Hoenn warmer than Johto?" he asked his parents as they exited the jeep.

"Yes," Rose laughed, as Morty grabbed Jasper's rucksack from the boot, "there's even a desert there apparently."

"Great."

Jasper's answer was abrupt and his tone was sullen, but Rose tried not to dwell on it. When she had left for her own Pokémon journey at sixteen it had been with Tripp – her best friend at the time. She had not been nervous but excited. However, she couldn't blame Jasper for not feeling the same - he barely knew his cousins, of course he was going to be feeling anxious. Rose herself did not feel entirely comfortable regarding her son's departure, but she was trying to smother her feelings. He had never been apart from her, and she didn't know how to feel. It was natural, surely, for her to be…less than happy with the situation?

"Why're they always so late?" Morty muttered as he stamped his feet, trying to keep warm, "surely there's not Dragon air traffic."

Rose laughed, and Jasper gave a half smile at the feeble joke. They had been waiting for over twenty minutes now, and Jasper was growing hopeful that his cousins weren't going to turn up after all. The idea of becoming a Gym Leader, which had never before appealed to him, was becoming more and more attractive than going on this journey. True, he was unlikely to have a chance to do anything heroic, but he also wouldn't have to travel with his cousins that he barely knew, and was pretty sure that he had disliked heartily as a child.

"Finally!" Morty exclaimed, although the surprise was clear in his voice, for Lance, Clair, Ebony, and Scarlett had not arrived by Dragon, but by taxi.

 _Will I be considered a hero for just going with them_? Jasper pondered moodily.

"Rose! Morty!" Lance grinned as he stepped out of the taxi, cape and all. It had been over ten years since they had all laid eyes upon one another, but there were no hard feelings. They simply moved in different circles.

"Hello Lance," Rose smiled, "where're the Dragons?"

"I don't suppose even Dragonite can carry two humans and a rucksack that far…at least not a rucksack filled with as many clothes as Bonnie and Lettie have between them…" Clair remarked with a wry grin as she joined them.

"Hello Ebony, Scarlett," Rose said. Her shock was evident for, even at sixteen, her nieces were now taller than her. She wasn't sure why she was surprised, for Lance and Clair were both tall. In fact, most Dragon Tamers were – Rose was an anomaly of sorts.

"Hello Rose," Scarlett replied politely. Ebony merely gave a pained smile, and Rose registered the furtive glances that the black haired girl kept shooting at her father.

"Do you lot remember each other?" Clair asked with amusement, "you can't have been more than five years old the last time you met!"

Unwillingly the teenagers looked at each other.

Jasper felt like a bit of an idiot. He honestly had no idea what to say to these girls – his cousins – and he hated the way that all of the adults were just standing around watching. His first impression was that they looked ridiculously alike – they even had the same hair style; long and straight, complete with a full fringe. They also had the same slanting, cat-shaped eyes – much like his own. Luckily their hair and eyes were a different colour or he thought he'd never be able to tell them apart.

Ebony couldn't even bring herself to look at her cousin. She knew her father as watching her closely for any misbehaviour, and she was desperate not to cause a scene, but she was just too annoyed. All she wanted was to get on the ferry away from her parents. Just because she had to travel with her cousin didn't mean she had to befriend him…or even talk to him, right?

Scarlett was the opposite, and couldn't help but stare at Jasper openly. He was nothing like she remembered although, as she reflected on her memories, she should have realised that they couldn't have been accurate. Her childish recollections were of Jasper being very yellow, and her memory of him was of a small child with huge black eyes and bright yellow skin and hair. In reality, of course, Jasper was not all bright yellow. Granted, his skin, unlike hers, was a golden tan, and his hair a dark golden blond; however his eyes weren't black at all, but a bright, deep brown. He looked extraordinarily like Morty except for those eyes – although something in the set of Jasper's mouth reminded Scarlett of Rose. But overall he looked very _normal_ to her, and that was what surprised Scarlett the most. In her head he had been nothing short of freakish.

Morty too was scrutinising Jasper, and he could see that his son was highly uncomfortable with the odd situation. Morty knew that _he_ would have been too in Jasper's place.

"The ferry's leaving in twenty," he said, checking his watch, "you guys need to get going in a minute."

Jasper looked over to see his father's smile, but also the sadness in his violet eyes.

"Don't worry Dad," he said gruffly as he caught his father in a tight hug, "I'll be fine."

"Just remember what I told you," Morty returned quietly, still holding onto his son, "there's some funny stuff going on – don't go looking for trouble – you have absolutely nothing to prove – to yourself or anyone else."

Jasper smiled at his father, and gave a single nod, before turning to his mother. He had now grown taller than her, and her head nestled against his shoulder as she hugged him goodbye.

"Take care, Jas," she said as her brown eyes filled with tears. She looked up into his familiar face and gave a watery smile, her lips trembling. Jasper hugged her again, and kissed her on top of her head, causing her to laugh.

"You too Ma – don't worry about me – I'll be fine."

Rose felt slightly sick as her son released her. She did not want him to leave, not so soon, not so abruptly. She wasn't ready for this – their goodbye seemed too hurried.

"Come on," Morty murmured into her ear a few minutes later. She had been staring as the three teenagers made their way onto the ferry, her brown eyes never leaving the back of the golden haired boy, "let's get home."

Rose nodded, but still the general feeling of unease persisted. She supposed she would have to get used to it.

-o-

"Come _on_ Bonnie, it'll be so weird tomorrow if we don't!"

"I don't care," Ebony said resolutely as she lay back on her bed in the twin cabin she was sharing with her sister.

"You're being so childish."

" _You_ fucking go and have dinner with him then, if you're so desperate."

Scarlett scowled and crossed her arms.

"Jeez it's not that I _want_ to – but the longer we leave it the more awkward it's going to be when we actually start travelling together!"

Ebony merely turned away from her twin and faced the wall.

"I can't believe I'm even in this situation," she muttered angrily.

"Why're you being so difficult? Do you fancy him or something?" Scarlett smirked. She knew just how to rile her sister, and she had no qualms over doing so. Ebony turned around in a flash, her mouth falling open in indignation.

" _Fancy_ him? Are you for real?!"

"Well if you don't, prove it and come to dinner with him," Scarlett retorted smugly.

Ebony seethed inwardly. That was it, she had lost. She either had to go to dinner with her sister and cousin, or suffer the humiliation of Scarlett believing she had a crush on him.

"You're such an arsehole," Ebony said, shooting her twin a scathing look as she reached for her boots.

-o-

Jasper sighed as he heard the smart knocking at his cabin door. Standing up from his bed, he pulled his t-shirt back on before answering. As he knew they would be, his cousins were standing on the other side of the door. Scarlett looked very business-like, and Ebony, mutinous.

"Good evening, Jasper," the red haired twin smiled, "do you care to join us for something to eat?"

Rose had made him sandwiches, but he felt it might be rude to say so. He wasn't overly thrilled at the prospect of getting to know his cousins, but he knew it would have to happen at some point – best to get it over with.

"Sure, just let me grab my boots."

It was an awkward walk to the Dining Hall, but none of the teenagers could bring themselves to start a conversation. By communication of a few raised eyebrows and nods, the three decided to eat at the noodle bar. Jasper took the seat opposite his cousins in the booth, and gave a tight-lipped smile.

"So…are you both going to collect badges?"

"No," Scarlett replied primly, "I'm going to keep a travel journal."

Jasper blinked in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes." She did not elaborate.

"Er…okay. How about you, Ebony?"

Ebony glared at Jasper disdainfully through her deep, indigo eyes before she spoke. Her voice was dripping with contempt.

" _Yes_ , I'll be collecting badges," she said listlessly with a contemptuous eye roll.

"Cool, we can be rivals," he joked, trying to ease the palpable tension.

"As if _you'd_ be a rival to _me_ ," she snorted, her upper lip curling.

Jasper raised his eyebrows.

"Are you serious?"

Ebony reluctantly looked over at him again, her lovely face incredulous.

"What do you mean 'are you serious?'? You honestly think you're more skilled than I am?" She gave a high laugh.

"I never claimed to be more skilled than you," Jasper said coolly, "but I see no reason for your perceived superiority."

"Okay…right…are _you_ being serious now?!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jasper could feel his temper rising – why she was such a prick?

"Come on Jasper," Scarlett said in a somewhat patronising manner, "you _know_ where we're from, you know what _Pokémon_ we have."

Jasper began to laugh now.

"So you're automatically better than me because you have Dragon Pokémon?"

"Well, _duh_ ," Ebony said, flicking her black hair behind her shoulders.

Jasper could only stare across the table at his cousins. Was it possible that his mother was related to these people? That _he_ was?

"I guess we'll see in our first Gym match won't we?" he said levelly as he began to eat his noodles. Jasper vaguely remembered Ebony and Scarlett having tried to gang up on him as children, and he refused to let them believe he felt intimidated in any way.

"Keep dreaming," Ebony said, giving him a fixed, false smile.

"Will do," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he continued to eat.

"What's _your_ reason for coming to Hoenn then?" Scarlett asked him curiously.

"For the same reason as you…well, Ebony. I have too many family members that are part of the Johto League – we can't challenge them."

The twins glanced at one another before bursting out laughing.

"What?" Jasper asked, confused.

"You're expecting to get that far?" Scarlett smiled condescendingly.

"I know I said 'dream on', but maybe you're taking that too literally – your dreams of getting a _single_ Gym badge are unlikely to come true – let alone challenging the League," Ebony supplied nastily.

Jasper stood up from the booth, trying very hard to prevent himself getting into a verbal war with Ebony and Scarlett. He didn't care what they thought of him, but nor was he going to sit there and listen to it. He extracted a ten Pokéloan note from his wallet and placed it on the table next to his half eaten bowl. He no longer had an appetite.

"Goodnight," he said shortly, before he walked away from the restaurant.

"Touchy," Scarlett remarked to her sister, who gave an appreciative laugh.

-o-

Back in his cabin, Jasper sat down slowly on his bed, staring at his hands. He felt at a complete loss, and he had nobody to talk to about it. His mobile phone had no signal now that they were out at sea, but he didn't think he could face calling his parents even if he could. What would he say? 'They're being mean to me,'? He snorted.

Reaching into his rucksack, Jasper pulled out his Pokéball belt and released Wraitheon. The Pokémon could immediately sense his unease, and she jumped into his lap, rubbing her face against his jaw comfortingly. Jasper sighed as he stroked her back.

"I'm glad I've got you with me," he said truthfully, "I have a feeling this is going to be a lonely journey."

He laughed then, because what else could he do? He was setting out to travel with two girls who had made it very clear they didn't like him, and seeing as he couldn't change his heritage, he couldn't see their opinions of him changing anytime soon either. Deciding that he would worry about it in the morning, Jasper got ready for bed. He knew the ferry's rule: no Pokémon were allowed out of their Pokéballs in the cabins, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Wraitheon snuggled next to him in her usual spot, and Jasper began to relax gradually, before finally drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

-o-

He awoke the following morning, and had to think for a moment why the ceiling was wooden. Then he remembered where he was, and groaned to himself. He was pleased that there was only one more night to spend on the ferry; he felt like going for his usual morning run, like he always had with Morty, but he obviously couldn't do so here. Glancing at his watch, he realised that it was still set to Ecruteak time: seven in the morning. His father would probably just be finishing his own, solitary, run and returning home to breakfast. Jasper sighed heavily – there was no use in thinking about home, it wouldn't do him any favours.

Wraitheon graciously returned to her Pokéball, and Jasper made his way to the Dining Hall once again to get some breakfast. Having left half of his dinner the previous night, he was famished.

The ferry was pleasantly quiet this early in the morning, and Jasper was relieved to find no sign of his cousins. He happily ate his way through a bowl of porridge, some toast, and a coffee, watching the other passengers with interest as they passed his table. He had never left Johto before, and there were many Pokémon around that he had never seen. One lady near the fruit salad bar had two Pokémon that looked remarkably like Pikachu, but they were smaller. One was brown and cream, the other blue and cream. Jasper yearned for a closer look, but contented himself with the fact that there were bound to be loads of new Pokémon in Hoenn. For the first time, he began to grow excited about his trip.

His excitement faded when he spotted a red head and a black head making their way to the pastry case twenty metres from where he was sitting. To his relief, his cousins did not appear to spot him, and took their breakfasts to the opposite end of the Dining Hall. They attracted many stares, he noticed. He wondered if it was because they were still wearing their capes (for some reason), but then he decided it was more likely to be the identical way in which they held their heads. Their raised chins and disdainful eyes made it clear to anybody watching that they were superior – and they knew it.

Jasper rolled his eyes before standing up to grab another coffee. He chose a takeaway cup this time. He tried to tell himself that he wasn't hiding from them he was just…avoiding them.

Jasper shook his head at himself, and gave a rueful grin

 _Great start._

-o-

Much to Jasper's surprise, however, the rest of the ferry journey passed very pleasantly for him. Ebony and Scarlett had stopped by his cabin after breakfast that morning, and the three teenagers had a very brief, and very succinct, conversation that they all left feeling perfectly cheerful. As the twins had suggested, there was no reason for them to travel together; they didn't want to travel with Jasper, and Jasper certainly didn't wish to travel with them. It had taken no effort to convince their blond cousin that they should make their separate ways once they reached Slateport City. There was, however, no reason to inform either set of parents of their plan. And thus, after less than five minutes of conversation, Jasper and Ebony and Scarlett, for the first time in their lives, were all in agreement with each other.

The following afternoon, the great ferry sailed into Slateport Harbour, and there was a general kerfuffle and confusion as all the passengers pushed and shoved to be off the ferry first. Jasper hastily returned Wraitheon to her Pokéball; not only was she in danger of being trampled by the crowds, but he was aware of the fact that many people were double-taking in her direction. Rose had warned him that this was likely to happen. As of yet, Wraitheon was one-of-a-kind and people were bound to be interested in her. However, interest could inspire envy, and envy could lead to Wraitheon being stolen – either for personal profit or for ransom. Jasper swallowed. The thought of losing Wraitheon made him feel ill; she had been with him almost as long as he could remember. Jasper recalled the conversation he had had with Morty a few nights previously; he had to keep his wits about him on this journey. Yes, it was true that Wraitheon would help to protect him, but he had to protect her too – they were a team after all.

Jasper tried to make his way to the edge of the sea of people in order to breathe easier – it was very crowded, and the passengers were starting to push and shove. He could see no sign of his cousins – not that he minded – they could get trampled underfoot for all he cared. He smiled to himself at this thought – they truly brought out an ugly side in him…

Perhaps it was the overwarm, crowded walkway, but Jasper began to feel very strange indeed. His stomach turned and clenched slightly, and he began to feel very hot, his head swimming. Nevertheless, he continued to make his way through the protesting crowd, following an instinct he was unaware of.


	12. Chapter 11 - Reawakening

"Can you stop shoving please? We _all_ want to get off you know."

Scarlett gaped at the irate woman in front of them who, admittedly, she had been ramming with her shoulder – but did this woman have no idea who they _were_? Where they _came_ from?!

"Of _course_ she has no idea," Ebony consoled her twin with a disdainful eye roll, "with a tone and a fashion sense like _that_ I wouldn't be surprised if she'd crawled right out of a gutter."

The woman seemed to swell before their eyes, her face turning a blotchy red as she stared incredulously at the teenage girls.

"Well wherever you two _have_ come from I see no reason for you to be so proud of it! Your parents clearly didn't teach you any manners!"

The passengers, who were all very bored and tired of standing around and waiting to get off the ferry, began to watch the spectacle with interest.

"Our parents are very well-respected, and have _very_ powerful Pokémon –"

"Are you threatening me?!" the woman hissed, as the passengers in the vicinity began to mutter angrily on the woman's behalf. Many pairs of eyes were boring into Ebony and Scarlett, but they didn't seem perturbed. In fact, Scarlett had just opened her mouth to retort that yes, she was most definitely threatening the woman, when she felt a hand rest firmly on her shoulder from behind.

"Of course she's not threatening you - is there a problem here?" a cool voice asked.

Scarlett spun around to see Jasper smiling at the woman in front of them. His tone was questioning, but there was the undeniable authority in his voice that caused the woman to deflate slightly, and lower her eyes reproachfully.

"Yes, there most certainly _is_ a problem," Ebony started. She didn't know whether to be angrier at her cousin or the woman. Who was _he_ to come swooping into their business?!

"I wasn't asking you Ebony," he said lightly without looking at her.

Ebony's mouth fell open in indignant fury, but Jasper spoke again before she had the chance to interject.

"I apologise, Ma'am, for my cousins. I hope you have a lovely stay in Hoenn."

Jasper then began to steer Ebony and Scarlett forwards, one of his hands still resting on each of their shoulders. Something other than surprise prevented them throwing him off, but they managed to make their annoyance clear when they were finally off the ferry. It irked them to admit it, but they disembarked a lot faster than they would have had they been alone. Jasper was a good half-foot taller than they were and he parted the crowds more easily.

"What the hell was that?" Scarlett snapped when they had finally left the harbour.

Jasper only rolled his eyes.

"You have no idea how ridiculous the pair of you sounded with your empty threats – trust me, I did you a favour back there."

" _How_ exactly?" Ebony demanded, her indigo eyes flashing.

"You sounded just like the pair of spoilt brats you are," he said casually as he hitched his rucksack more comfortably against his shoulders, "the looks you were getting from the other passengers were none too friendly."

"Who _cares_ what looks we were getting?" Scarlett said with a short laugh, "they're underclassmen compared with us."

"You're not going to get very far on your travels if you treat everyone you meet like shit."

"I'm sure they're used to it," Ebony said as she raised her chin, "either that or they're as stupid as you and _clearly_ can't see when neither their opinions, _nor_ their company, are welcome."

"Suit yourself," Jasper said with a false smile. They had come to the first main street in Slateport City. Without saying a word, Jasper turned down the left road towards the Pokémon Centre, leaving his cousins standing indecisively on the street corner.

"What a twat," Scarlett sniffed as she turned away from her cousin's retreating back.

"I couldn't agree more," Ebony growled. She knew that they couldn't follow him or risk looking like they weren't up to going it alone - but they also wanted to go to the Pokémon Centre so that they could visit the Trainer's Lodge and get their bearings. It was the place where all of the necessary information about the city could be obtained; where basic food and supplies could be bought, and where they could potentially book a bunk for the night – in a _private_ room of course.

"Come on," Scarlett finally said, "We'll just have to find another route there."

-o-

Autumn was fast approaching in Hoenn, and by five o'clock that evening it was already getting dark, the watered ink sky shot through with streaks of fiery gold. Jasper sat in the Trainer's Lodge with a bowl of rice and a coffee, one eye on the news report on Team Aqua and Magma, and one eye on the door. He wasn't sure why entirely, but he was waiting for Ebony and Scarlett to arrive. He supposed he wanted to gloat that he had made it here first. Silently, of course. He had no desire to speak with them. After a few seconds' contemplation Jasper rolled his eyes at himself. Did they really annoy him so much that he was finding himself becoming as petty as they were? Yes, apparently so.

Determined to put his cousins from his mind, he decided to get going. He didn't want to waste money staying indoors at night when he had his own tent and besides, he wasn't afraid of sleeping outside in the dark. As he left the Pokémon Centre however, he did find himself wondering, to his annoyance, where Scarlett and Ebony had wandered off to. Slateport City _surely_ wasn't large enough for them to get lost in, and yet it was very difficult for Jasper to imagine that they were the kind of girls who would be happy to sleep outdoors in a tent – surely it was 'beneath' them.

Slateport City was very well lit at the harbour end, but as Jasper ventured further towards the edge of the city it became much darker. The number of people on the streets began to dwindle, and the few squares of light visible in the streets diminished as the occupants of the houses began drawing their curtains and lowering their blinds. Jasper was looking forward to finding some sheltered, soft ground. There must be a field or a wood or something nearby outside of the city. It was too early to think about sleeping yet, but he wanted to find a base for the evening, get an early night, and get up early and get going in the morning. According to the Pokémon Centre in Slateport City, the nearest Pokémon Gym was in Mauville City, a day or two north of where he currently was. Jasper sped up slightly as he saw a signpost for Route 110 – there was bound to be some decent camping ground there.

He stopped abruptly in the street. Call it a sixth sense, but he knew he ought not to be continuing down the main road towards Route 110, but instead tuning right down the next side street. Something within him was compelling him to take this path and so, without so much as thinking about it, he obeyed. Faster and faster his feet carried him, his rucksack bumping uncomfortably against his back and the straps chafing against his shoulders. He continued down the side street, the yellow light from the single street lamp reflecting upon the wet cobblestones of the pavement beneath him. Jasper hadn't even allowed himself time to process his thoughts, so intense was his determination to take this seemingly random path – and then he saw them. Two figures of equal height were at the far end of the street. Although it was impossible to tell in the colour-leaching light of dusk, Jasper knew that one of the capes was a deep emerald green, and the other dark purple. Scowling to himself, he made to turn back the way he came, but raised voices caught his attention. As he turned back again, he realised that there were now five figures at the far end of the street, and instinct told him that this wasn't a good sign. He began to sprint towards them, a thrill starting up in his chest. Perhaps this would be his first chance to demonstrate some heroics.

-o-

" _Excuse_ me?" Ebony finally managed to choke – why did her voice sound so strange, and why couldn't she seem to gather her thoughts?

"Don't fuck around with me," the man growled, "just give me your Pokémon and I'll leave you both alone."

He took a step closer to them. Ebony and Scarlett could smell the sourness of his breath and see the glint in his dark eyes.

"Fine then, just give us your rucksacks," the young woman said, licking her lips as she glanced meaningfully at the man. They didn't want to cause a scene here – they just wanted to get their loot and get out again.

"Fuck that!" the other young woman said as she, like the man, began to advance towards the twins, "we'll take anything and _everything_ they've got – Pokémon _and_ money."

This was all Jasper's fault, Scarlett found herself thinking wildly. If he hadn't taken the straight road to the Pokémon Centre they could have gone that way…and they wouldn't have ended up getting lost…

"D-don't touch me," Ebony stammered as she took a hasty step backwards from the man's outstretched arm. She trod on Scarlett's foot and the pair of them stumbled slightly, causing the man to laugh.

"Come on girls for fuck's sake, just –"

He stopped talking abruptly at the sound of someone running in their direction. The three members of Team Aqua spun around to see a third teenager sprinting down the alleyway towards them.

"Eugh," the man groaned with a roll of his eyes, "just what we need."

"Let's smash up this little bastard and get out of here," the first young woman growled.

"Don't forget their Pokémon – we can't leave without Pokémon!" the second one hissed under her breath.

"We can take _all_ of their Pokémon," the man grinned, "including this little hero's," he jerked his thumb in the boy's direction.

Scarlett gave a great shuddering gasp as the three thugs finally turned their attention away from her and her sister. But, now that Jasper was here, she gave in to her terror. Her knees buckled and she broke out in a cold sweat. It was as though she had only just realised exactly how terrified she was, and she clutched at Ebony, in order to keep herself upright; her twin's white face felt like an exact mirror of hers,.

Jasper did not look at his cousins as he stepped in front of them; he only had eyes for the three thieves.

"What's going on?" he asked as he regained his breath. His voice was calm, but his brown eyes were narrowed dangerously.

The man laughed loudly. Most of his face was obscured by the blue and white bandana that covered it, but for his eyes and mouth. It was tied at the back - like a pirate's.

The two young women released their Pokémon, a Carvanha and a Poochyena. The latter began to growl, its hackles raised, and Ebony and Scarlett gasped in fright.

"Come to save them have you? Little tarts," the man spat at the girls' feet.

The fact that neither Scarlett nor Ebony made a sound at this insult altered Jasper as to exactly how frightened they must be. True, he wasn't exactly on the best terms with them, but he'd be damned if he stood by and let them be mugged – what sort of person would that make him?

Suddenly, the sense within him that had driven him to this spot in the first place flared up once again, and he had an overwhelming thirst to do something – to punish this man.

"Indeed I have," he smiled coolly.

The man did not bother to release his Pokémon, instead he lunged forwards, his bare hand grasping for Jasper's throat. Ebony and Scarlett screamed afresh at this new attack, but before they could fully register what was happening, the man sprang back from Jasper with a bellow of pain. He stumbled over his own feet and fell heavily to the wet ground, clutching at his hand. Wide-eyed he stared at Jasper, whose face was still carefully blank; he didn't appear to have moved at all. The young women took a nervous step backwards, their Pokémon mirroring them. They were confused, and a little frightened. What was going on?

"What the _fuck_?!" the man bawled, "you little fucking _psycho_!"

He began to shuffle backwards from his new position on the wet pavement, his eyes never leaving Jasper. The fact that Jasper didn't move or respond seemed to unnerve him further.

"What's your _problem_?! You little _freak_!"

The young women were obviously frightened now; it would seem that the man was their group ringleader, and they had clearly never seen him behave in such a way.

"C-come on," the first young woman whispered as she licked nervously at her dry lips again, "let's get out of here."

Together they managed to lift the man to his feet, but his eyes never left the teenage boy.

"You're _fucked_ – you're fucked up!" he spat, his teeth chattering and his eyes wild.

"Let's go," the second young woman insisted and, throwing nervous glances over their shoulders as they went, the three Team Aqua grunts rounded the corner and disappeared into the city.

-o-

Ebony and Scarlett's eyes met briefly as they made their way silently down the road that led to Route 110. Jasper, apart from checking that they were indeed unharmed, had not spoken a word to them since they had left the city. Even now, he was still five paces in front of them, and still seemed no closer to speaking – or explaining what had happened back there.

After a few more minutes of walking, he stopped abruptly behind a small thicket of trees. Kneeling to the ground, he tested the earth with his hands.

"This should do for the night," he said quietly, "do you two need help putting up your tent?"

Ebony and Scarlett merely stared at him, both of them still too shocked to speak. What happened in the alleyway had terrified them; not only their near mugging, but also the man's reaction to their cousin. What had that man seen that they had not? And why was Jasper acting so strangely now? Their agreement to start travelling together once again was unspoken. At first, the girls had been relieved at the prospect, but now with this new silent Jasper, they weren't sure where they stood.

Wordlessly, he took their bags from them and began to set up their tent. Coming to her senses, Ebony finally spoke. Her voice was cracked and dry after her ordeal.

"We can put up our own tent," she said shortly.

"I've almost done it now," Jasper replied with a small shrug, not a hint of anger in his voice.

"Th-thank you," Scarlett said quietly.

The brown eyes met the grey, and Jasper gave a brief nod before turning his attention to his own tent. Ebony and Scarlett disappeared inside theirs, and did not re-emerge.

Ten minutes later, Jasper was lying silently in his own tent, his brown eyes fixed on the canvas ceiling. He felt…odd, and he wasn't entirely sure what was wrong; he couldn't explain it to himself. There was an uncomfortable tightening in his stomach, and he felt slightly light-headed, like he had been running for too long…He supposed he must be in shock, for the spectacle in the alleyway was really very frightening. But was it? At no point had he felt frightened, but he couldn't understand why not. The Team Aqua grunts had all been significantly older than him, and the man significantly larger, but at no point had Jasper felt in danger.

He lay awake for over an hour, half expecting his fear to catch up with him. But it didn't. The hoots of Noctowl and the skittering of bug Pokémon outside his tent soothed him, and after a while he felt his eyes grow heavy with sleep.

From within her Pokéball, Wraitheon could sense sleep coming upon Jasper, and she let her breath go slowly in relief. It was okay – _he_ was okay. The force within him had come to the surface for the first time in many years, yes, but it hadn't appeared to do any harm. Rather, Jasper had utilised this force for good. Wraitheon thought back to when Jasper had been a child, when she and Raichu had decided that he needed to be trained in order to have control over the force within him. Well perhaps, now, Jasper was finally in control. With this comforting thought, Wraitheon too found sleep.

-o-

 _I know I mentioned in my last entry that he wasn't worth writing about and so I wasn't going to bother - but I just have to write this down – maybe then I'll be able to make sense of it? Anyway to get to the point…Jasper is weird. Like, really weird. I don't understand it, but people seem to be scared of him. No, not scared just…I don't know really._

 _When Bonnie and I were arguing with that stupid woman on the ferry, she sort of just shut up when Jasper came along. So did we, thinking about it. And tonight, in that alleyway, if Jasper hadn't arrived when he did - well. I don't want to think about it. But something weird definitely happened – the man grabbed at him and then jumped away like he'd been scalded or something, but Jasper hadn't moved I don't think. It was all over so fast._

 _I know I'm just rambling here, it's been a long and stressful day. I just hope now that I've gotten all of that out of my system I can sleep._

 _We're going to call the police in the morning – there's no way those thugs should be allowed to get away with this, even though, thanks to Jasper, they didn't even really do anything to us…_

-o-

The late August morning dawned bright and fresh. Tripp, however, was feeling far from it. Drake and Phoebe's words had been swimming around his head all night long, and he hadn't had a wink of sleep. His eyes felt scratchy and sore, and they roved over the numerous empty coffee cups that sat upon his desk – the desk he had sat at throughout the long, restless night. He rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands in an attempt to clear them, but everything remained slightly blurred. He hadn't intended to stay awake all night – but he just couldn't stop thinking…

A soft knock sounded upon the mahogany doors of his study.

"Come in," Tripp croaked wearily.

As expected, Phoebe and Drake stepped inside. Both trainers raised their eyebrows upon seeing the state the Champion was in.

"I gather you've had plenty of time to reflect upon our conversation yesterday?" Drake asked.

"It looks as though he's done nothing _but_ all night," Phoebe remarked with a ghost of a smile, "Tripp – did you even go to bed last night?!"

The Champion still had on the same red t-shirt that he had been wearing the previous day – although it now looked significantly rumpled.

"No, I didn't," he replied after a shuddering yawn, "lots to think about."

"I'll say," Drake said wryly, but there was a glint of amusement in his dark, cat-shaped eyes.

Coffee was made, and after this, and a banana, Tripp was feeling more awake.

"I know you've explained it all before Drake," he began, "but, well…if I'm honest –"

"I _am_ aware that during that conversation back in spring you took no notice of me or my warnings…"

Tripp sighed, and opened his mouth to protest, but Drake didn't allow him to speak.

"But let that be a lesson to the both of us. Now _I_ know that you're serious, and _you_ know that I'm serious…shall we start again?"

Tripp gratefully shook the hand that Drake offered him – he was a cranky bastard, but he certainly knew what was going on in Hoenn, and Tripp was desperate for support.

"How much do you know about the legendary Pokémon of Hoenn, Tripp?" Phoebe asked as she stirred cream into her coffee.

"Truthfully – not much," he replied, his cheeks flushing pink, "I know their names – Groudon and Kyogre…and that's about it really."

"Have you heard of Rayquaza?" Drake asked, quirking a heavy white brow at the younger man.

"Er, no."

Phoebe's lips twitched. Drake hid a relieved smile at her reaction – it was the first time he had seen her show any kind of amusement since the murder of her grandparents.

"Okay…we'll start from the beginning," Phoebe said.

-o-

Tripp was really very tired, but he was trying desperately hard to understand this.

"So…so in summary," he began, his brow furrowed, "Groudon and Kyogre are controlled by the Red and Blue Orbs…they're sleeping right now…but because the Orbs have been taken, you're worried that Teams Aqua and Magma are going to try and awaken them?"

"Quite right," Phoebe confirmed, her eyes hard.

"And the legend," here Tripp turned to Drake, "the legend from the Cleopatra Island Dragon Tamers states that Rayquaza will be summoned by the Golden Demon to stop their fighting?"

"Almost," Drake told him, draining his fourth coffee of the morning, "those of Hoenn believe that Rayquaza will be summoned to stop Groudon and Kyogre from fighting…it's the Dragon Tamers of _Cleopatra Island_ who believe that the Golden Demon will then use Rayquaza to destroy the earth."

"And the 'Golden Demon'…?"

"Is the Chaos Pokémon," Drake confirmed.

"So to prevent any of this happening," Tripp said, deep in thought, "we have to find the Orbs and reunite them?"

"Yes, indeed," Phoebe sighed.

"And you believe that either Team Aqua, or Team Magma have the Orbs?"

"Or both," Drake said grimly, "my guess is this: Team Aqua has taken the Red Orb, as they wish to control Kyogre – and Team Magma has the Blue Orb, to control Groudon."

"Then…we're too late?!" Tripp gaped.

"Yes and no," Drake replied, smoothing down his black cape and adjusting his hat, "for I have reason to believe that, although each team has an Orb, they do not know where the sleeping Pokémon lie."

"How do you know this?" Phoebe asked him with a frown.

"Because Hoenn is still intact," Drake laughed.

Tripp could only manage a grimace – he didn't see anything funny about this.

"Unless…unless we can find Rayquaza first?!" Tripp exclaimed excitedly, "then we could use it to subdue the other two?!"

"Pray tell how, assuming you could even locate the beast, you plan on controlling such a Pokémon?" Drake asked snidely, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tripp was rather stumped on this point.

"Um…I'm assuming there's no Green Orb?" he mumbled to his trainers.

"You assume correctly," Drake said with a roll of his eyes, "on with Plan A then…"

"Drake, how _can_ the Chaos Pokémon control Rayquaza?" Phoebe asked.

"Very easily," the old sea captain replied, "through Draconis."

Draconis. The old language of the Dragon Tamers. It was no longer taught, as terrible things seemed to happen to those who spoke it. It was the language of Dragon Pokémon themselves.

"So the Chaos Pokémon is a Dragon type?" Phoebe continued with wide eyes.

"That has long been considered the case," Drake nodded in affirmation.

A shrill ringing caused the three to jump in alarm. Tripp leapt out of his chair in his haste to answer the phone.

"Hello, Tripp speaking…yes…yes…how many?...in Slateport City?...okay…okay…no, it's fine…I'm on my way, thank you." He hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"The police," Tripp told her grimly, "a near-mugging in Slateport City occurred last night – three teenagers were involved, and from what they described it seems like the muggers were members of Team Aqua."

The three trainers exchanged knowing looks.

"Do you think it could help us track down the Orbs?" Phoebe gasped; she looked more animated than she had in days.

"I'm about to go and find out!" Tripp grinned – it felt good to be acting rather than sitting around and talking.

Drake nodded his assent.

-o-

Jasper awoke feeling groggy. Bright, hot sunlight was streaming in through the canvas roof of his tent. His head was pounding and his mouth felt horribly dry. Luckily, he'd topped up his supplies at the Trainer's Lodge, and he took a grateful glug of water from one of the fresh bottles in his rucksack. Catching sight of the time on his watch, Jasper groaned inwardly – half past nine in the morning. How had _that_ happened? Jasper never slept in this late. Had he been at home, he would already have been for a run with his father, showered, and had breakfast. Shaking his head at himself, Jasper gave a great stretch, and began to scan the tent for his t-shirt. He froze as he heard a strange voice coming from near the outside of his tent.

"The police informed me that three teenagers had a run-in with Team Aqua – do you know anything about this?" the voice asked. Jasper guessed that it belonged to an adult male.

"Yes, it was us who called," one of the twins said – Ebony?

"And who was present yesterday evening?" The same male voice sounded again.

"Me, Bonnie, and Jasper," Scarlett supplied.

"Jasper?"

"That's our cousin, he's sleeping," Ebony said.

Jasper hurriedly pulled on his t-shirt, jeans, and socks and unzipped his tent. He had no idea what was going on. Who had the twins called? The police?!

"Ah, so this is Jasper?" the man said, barely glancing over at him.

The twins nodded.

"Please, tell me what happened," the man said, turning back to the girls. As Ebony began to explain, in a voice she was trying very hard to keep steady, Jasper took a good look at the stranger. He was a very tall man, in his mid-thirties. His short, dark brown hair was just starting to turn grey at the temples, and his eyes were a piercing blue. However, he wasn't wearing a police uniform of any kind, and Jasper frowned as he tried to figure out what was going on. But the man had turned to face him once again, and Jasper realised that Ebony had stopped speaking – she was unable to continue with her story; she was at a loss, unable to explain what had happened once Jasper had turned up.

"How did you manage to get rid of Team Aqua?" the man asked him, his blue eyes narrowed in confusion, "did you battle them?"

"No," Jasper said quietly, his face turned down towards his feet. If he was honest, he wasn't entirely sure what had happened the night before – his memory of the event seemed a little fuzzy now.

"Did they steal any Pokémon from any of you?"

"No," Jasper repeated, and the twins shook their heads.

The tall man huffed in apparent confusion.

"You guys are going to need to help me out a bit more – why do you think Team Aqua targeted you in the first place?"

Scarlett shrugged.

"I guess they recognised us? I mean, we were wearing our capes, they must have known what sort of Pokémon we have – no _wonder_ they tried to steal them."

The dark haired man looked between the girls in confusion. "What do you mean? What sort of Pokémon _do_ you have?" Jasper could hear the curiosity in his voice.

"We're Dragon Tamers, from Johto," Ebony supplied.

Jasper saw the man's eyes widen in realisation. It was true, without their floor length capes, which they had not yet donned that morning, Ebony and Scarlett could have passed for any normal girls.

"You're from Blackthorn City?" the man asked in shock.

" _We_ are," Scarlett said snottily, " _he's_ from Ecruteak," she said with an inclination of her head in Jasper's direction.

The man whipped around, turning to face Jasper, who was still standing beside his tent. He properly surveyed the teenage boy for the first time.

"Ecruteak?" he asked quietly, his blue eyes searching Jasper's face. Whatever he found there clearly struck a chord within him; his jaw tightened and the blue eyes narrowed significantly.

"Yes," Jasper replied warily. He didn't like the way this man was glaring at him – who the hell was he anyway? And why did everyone he met seem to have such a problem with his hometown? Jasper scowled to himself.

"Of course…" the man said coolly, "well, I never knew he had a younger brother…"

"Who?" Ebony asked, one eyebrow raised.

The man realised that he had spoken aloud and he cleared his throat in embarrassment, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"Just a trainer I was once…acquainted with," he told them shortly, turning his back on Jasper deliberately.

"But Jasper doesn't _have_ an older brother…do you?" Scarlett asked in confusion.

"No, I'm an only child," Jasper said curtly, "who are _you_ anyway?" he asked the dark haired man rudely, his upper lip curled in distaste – he didn't like the man's attitude towards him or Ecruteak City.

The man turned back to the teenage boy, and his features clearly showed the disgust he felt when he looked into Jasper's face, "I am the Champion of this region," he said stiffly. His blue eyes continued to rake over Jasper. It was making the teenager feel uncomfortable – what the hell was the man looking at?

"Can I help you with anything?" Jasper asked sarcastically.

"Humour me," the Champion said with a wry grin that did not reach his eyes, "you look very much like him…so if you're not Morty's younger brother, you must be…a nephew? Cousin?"

Ebony and Scarlett snorted, and Jasper raised his eyebrows incredulously.

" _Morty's_ the Ecruteak trainer you knew?" Scarlett asked in disbelief.

"Briefly, yes," the Champion confirmed, his narrowed eyes still fixed on Jasper.

"He's my father."

The Champion continued to stare blankly at Jasper, clearly not taking in his words.

"I'm his son…Morty's my _father_ ," Jasper said slowly, one eyebrow raised. This man was strange.

It happened suddenly. The Champion's face blanched, turning the colour of dirty white laundry; he took an abrupt step closer to the teenage boy, and his blue eyes stopped roving over Jasper's face and settled instead on his bright brown, cat-shaped eyes.

" _His_ son?" he whispered disbelievingly.

"Yes," Jasper said shortly, growing more irritated by the minute. What was the big deal?!

The Champion spoke not another word to the teenagers. His nostrils flaring, and his face an alarming shade of grey, he turned from their campsite and strode off back onto the road leading to Slateport City.

"What the hell was _that_?" Scarlett asked.

-o-

 _Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose._

Tripp's breath came hard and fast. He had refused to think her name for years, but now all of the barriers came crashing down. Morty's son. _Her_ son. He had told himself he didn't care anymore. She was nothing to him. She had been a teenage fantasy – no more. They weren't even _friends_ anymore – he had not spoken to her since that awful morning in Tarragon City nearly seventeen years ago. She had been frightening then, and desperate. The memory was still crystal clear in Tripp's mind, despite how it made him shudder, and despite how much it had killed him to see her like that.

It was only now he realised; he had clung to that memory. He clung to it _because_ of her sheer desperation, _because_ of her absolute misery. He had been _happy_ that she was broken, _elated_ in fact. She had been broken, and Morty – her _husband_ – had realised too late. Tripp had unknowingly carried this knowledge within him like a burning talisman through the years. Deep down in the recesses of his mind he had been counting on this, counting on the fact that she had been miserable, and that Morty had failed her. He had been waiting, subconsciously, to meet her again, to explain himself and his feelings…to _be_ together.

But they had had a _child_.


End file.
